To Promote Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University Partners With South American Universities

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 13 Jun 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Cardiovascular disease researchers at Tulane University are partnering with faculty at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to establish the South American Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Health. The center has received a five-year, $2.3 million dollar grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The focus of the center's activities will be on cardiovascular health research and education. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents one-third of chronic disease deaths in the Southern Cone of Latin America, a region composed of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

"Despite the high burden of CVD, most health resources in these countries are dedicated to communicable diseases and maternal-child health conditions," says Dr. Jiang He, Joseph Copes Chair and Professor of Epidemiology at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and the project's principal investigator at Tulane University. "Mortality due to heart disease and stroke is already the leading cause of death in South America and is projected to continuously increase in the near future. Therefore, the prevention of CVD has to become a public health priority in South America."

To address these trends, the South American Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Health will be focused on research, training, and health education for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The center will carry out research in four communities in the region: Bariloche, Argentina; Marcos Paz, Argentina; Temuco, Chile; and Canelones, Uruguay. Equally important, Tulane and its partners will carry out the training of medical and research professionals, who are much needed in the region. The project will promote research training in CVD epidemiology and prevention, focused on the learning of quantitative methods and skills in the design, conduct, and analysis of observational and interventional studies.

Tulane is partnering in the South American Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Health with University of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile; and Universidad de la República, Canelones, Uruguay.

Source:
Arthur Nead
Tulane University