Christine Seidman, the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, has been named to receive the 2022 Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association. The Research Achievement Award is the AHA’s highest honor and recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to cardiovascular research and teaching.
“Dr. Seidman is one of the world’s most respected physician-scientists who has made groundbreaking discoveries in the genetics of cardiomyopathy,” said AHA President Michelle Albert.
“Her work has helped scientists and physicians better understand disease risks and has led to unique new pharmacological treatments,” added Albert.
Seidman and a team of researchers in her lab discovered the molecular base of both hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy. Working from this discovery point, she was further able to identify pathways that would allow targeted disease treatment.
She identified dominant cell mutations that can be linked to 75 percent of inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Using experimental models of human heart cells, she was able to demonstrate how these altered biophysical changes affect outcomes such as increased incidence of atrial fibrillation and heart failure.
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