Dr Sharon Ann George Awarded the American Heart Association's Career Development Award!

Cancer chemotherapy can cause deterioration of cardiac function and can lead to heart failure. With the growing number of cancer survivors, cardiotoxicity due to cancer treatment poses a significant healthcare concern. Despite its growing need, cardioprotective strategies to prevent toxicity in the heart during cancer chemotherapy are not always effective. Exercise has been proposed to fill this gap due to its promising results in heart failure patients. But the benefits of exercise in cancer patients is not fully understood and the mechanisms that underlie cardioprotection are unknown. Furthermore, the role of biological sex in modulating the benefits of exercise are not considered. 

Dr George's application titled "Sex Differences in Cardiac Metabolism Underlie Exercise-Induced Cardioprotection in Females during Cancer Chemotherapy" was funded for a three-year period starting April 1st, 2022. This award of $231,000 will fund her work on determining 1) the role of exercise in protecting the heart during cancer chemotherapy, 2) differences in the exercise-induced benefits in men and women, and 3) the pathways and networks in the heart the underlie these exercise-induced benefits. She will accomplish these goals by using mouse models and human donor hearts.