CHD GENES Newsletter, Winter 2019.
This is the third newsletter for the CHD GENES Study
CHD GENES Newsletter, February 2015
This is the second newsletter for the CHD GENES Study, a multicenter research study investigating the genetic causes of congenital heart disease (CHD). Since the study began in November 2010, 9,559 individuals with CHD have been enrolled in the study along with 12,672 relatives. To our knowledge, this is the largest set of samples assembled to study CHD. Articles in this newsletter include a summary of some of what we have learned from the samples donated thus far as well as some of what can be gained from understanding the genetic cause(s) of CHD.
CHD GENES Newsletter, July 2013
Halfway through the CHD GENES Study, we are at more than 60% of the goal of enrolling 10,000 individuals with congenital heart disease. This newsletter summarizes some of what we have learned to date and some of our plans for the near future.
Researchers Develop a Blueprint to Making a Heart
A group of Bay Area researchers has developed a blueprint that they say could have a profound impact on how we treat hearts and heart diseases. Benoit Bruneau, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, and his team set out to map the genetic switches locked inside the DNA of embryonic stem cells to see how a stem cell becomes a heart cell. The Gladstone team now hopes to study the DNA of patients born with congenital heart disease, changing the lives of about 35,000 babies born with heart defects in the U.S. every year. See the complete story at San Francisco’s ABC affiliate.
Children and Clinical Studies
The Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Bench to Bassinet Program, Dr. Gail Pearson, spoke at the 2010 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition on October 4th about children and clinical studies. Her speech “Avoiding ‘Hand-me-down’ Research: The Importance of Pediatric Studies” invoked the value of children’s involvement in biomedical research because they have diseases and reaction to treatment that are unique from that of adults. Pediatric populations in clinical trials can produce dramatic improvements in health care, such as the 1.8 million children in the Salk vaccine trial which resulted in developing a successful polio vaccine. The NHLBI and NIH partners launched an online program called “Children and Clinical Studies” to engage parents and children in clinical research programs.