Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

SCORE is seeking new funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue its decades-long success in advancing sex-differences research. Additional funding will be used to investigate heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpED).

Background

Women are disproportionately affected by heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but the current science for risk stratification, diagnosis and treatment does not reflect this reality. Consequently, there is insufficient recognition of early HFpEF risk in the community, under- and delayed diagnosis, and underrepresentation of women in clinical trials for HFpEF therapies. As such, women receive inadequate care and experience much higher HFpEF-related morbidity than men.

Project aims

The specific goals of the SCORE’s heart failure project are:

  • Develop and validate methods to identify imaging biomarkers for better HFpEF risk stratification prior to HFpEF onset.
  • Facilitate standardized recognition and diagnosis of HFpEF in women once it develops.
  • Examine whether starting guideline-directed medical therapy at an earlier stage improves symptoms and quality of life.

Through interrelated research projects supported by three interconnected cores, SCORE works seamlessly to train the next generation of translational scientists studying sex differences in prediction, diagnosis and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect women. When completed, this work promises to reduce sex disparities in HFpEF-related morbidity and healthcare utilization by:

  • Improving prediction and primary prevention.
  • Reducing the number of women with undiagnosed HFpEF.
  • Confirming that current guideline-directed medical therapy is effective for women.

The validated methods and findings could be rapidly implemented in community-based clinics, even in underserved areas.

Project leaders