Three medical centers awarded funds to study generation of cardiac muscle cells

The American Heart Association, with support from the Jon Holden DeHaan Foundation, has awarded funding for three research centers to study the development and mechanisms of generating new cardiac muscle cells. Over the next four year, the centers will be conducting studies to ultimately determine how regeneration of those cells can help improve outcomes for heart attack and heart failure patients. The grants total $6 million and have been awarded to the following facilities, each to become home to an American Heart Association-Jon Holden DeHaan Foundation Cardiac Myogenesis Research Center:
* University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn. - Center Director: Jonathan Epstein, M.D.
* University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas - Center Director: Eric Olson, Ph.D.
* University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. - Center Director: Doris Taylor, Ph.D.