University of Utah

In the initial stages of my academic career, I had a unique opportunity to acquire an AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Career Award Development Award. This amazing experience has allowed me to develop my independent research program and pursue my career ambition to understand the important connection between obesity-linked pathologies and heart health.

My AHA achievements have helped to establish that this is the profession I am meant to do, as it fits the way my mind works and is my passion. These awards have opened doors to new and valuable experiences, guiding me to where I am today. My AHA-linked origins and dedication to improve and advance academia as a whole, through mentoring, and collaboration, is testament to my desire to continue to share my experiences in positive ways and celebrate the commitment of the AHA to research. I am privileged to be able to contribute to the AHA mission to help to improve the longevity and quality of life of our patients.

AHA Research Alumnus Jonathan Baskin, MD, FASC, presented his AHA-funded work to the Cleveland Board of Directors. He and his team at the Cleveland VA Medical System are studying the connection between sleep apnea and hypertension and engineering a 'smart' implanted device to treat uncontrolled hypertension.

Baskin is an Otolaryngologist [ENT]-Head & Neck Surgeon with additional board certification in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Sleep Medicine. In 2004 he joined UHCMC and the Cleveland VA medical system where he was section chief of ENT-Head & Neck Surgery from 2008-2020. His academic appointments are with the Case Western Reserve University Schools of Medicine and Engineering. 

Dr. Baskin's research area of interest is in the development of ‘smart’ implanted platforms in the domain of peripheral neuromodulation (stimulating nerves) and sensing to treat chronic disease. He co-led the team in Cleveland that developed Upper Airway Stimulation therapy for sleep apnea (known as Inspire) having completed FDA trials both at the VAMC and UHCMC leading to FDA approval in 2014. He is currently developing surgically implanted technology to treat patients suffering from uncontrolled high blood pressure. In connection to this work, he regularly trains surgeons around the world in implantation of neuro-interfacing technology. In addition, he is actively involved in supporting the Northeast Ohio biomedical-translation community serving as the associate director for the Advanced Platform Technology Center, and as an oversight board member for the Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership.

Assistant Professor at the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Thanks to the support of the American Heart Association-Second Century Implementation Science Award, Dr. Vijayasree V. Giridharan's laboratory has been established as a hub for understanding the role of vascular complications in infection-induced long-term cognitive and neuropsychiatric effects.

Leslie A. Geddes Professor
Co-Director, Purdue Engineering Initiative in Engineering - Medicine
Director, Clinical Programs, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
Purdue University

This AHA funding helped create a new three-year summer program called "Cardiovascular Disease and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue/Indiana University" which is leveraging Purdue’s existing Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program to nationally recruit undergraduate students for participation in cardiovascular and stroke-related research projects in an interdisciplinary context. The $165K award is funding five summer researchers annually, including attending a research conference to present their work.

"IU Health and Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering have worked together for many years to provide immersive educational opportunities for students interested in learning about cardiovascular medicine,” said Mike Wagoner, executive director of cardiovascular services for IU Health. “AHA’s generous grant now provides the opportunity to welcome additional students who are passionate about advancing the future of healthcare."