Four Medical Centers Awarded Funds to Improve Outcomes Research for Heart Disease ...( DALLAS Nov. 5 -- The American He...),Health

DALLAS, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Heart Association and its Pharmaceutical Roundtable have awarded grants totaling $14.5 million for the Outcomes Research Centers initiative. The project will provide a network for cardiovascular and stroke research focusing on the end results, or outcomes, of healthcare for people with or at risk for heart disease and stroke.

The initiative is supported in part by a generous gift from American Heart Association national board member David Spina and his wife, Stevie Spina, of Wayland, Mass.

The award recipients are:

-- Duke University, Durham, N.C. - Center Director: Eric Peterson, M.D.,

M.P.H.

-- Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Mo. - Center

Director: John Spertus, M.D., M.P.H.

-- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif. - Center

Director: Mark Hlatky, M.D.

-- University of California, Los Angeles, Calif. - Center Director: Barbara

Vickrey, M.D., M.P.H.

It's expected that the interaction among the centers will provide in-depth knowledge and support breakthroughs in outcomes research, while uncovering challenges and successful mechanisms for active collaboration among research centers.

Over the next four years, these four centers will conduct research to determine what interventions, environments, patient factors and other issue most influence improvements in healthcare outcomes for heart disease and stroke patients. Center investigators will meet regularly and share information with each other, as well as provide training for research fellows.

The Outcomes Centers research will explore those interventions and activities that work best and provide the most value in improving healthcare outcomes. The results of the collaborative will ultimately contribute to informed practice and policy decisions by patients, providers, payers and legislators.

These award
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