The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded grants to four centres to accelerate research aimed at understanding heart development and treating pediatric heart disease.

The research is part of a new programme, the Specialized Centres of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR) programme, which is designed to foster multidisciplinary collaborations so that basic research advances are rapidly translated to clinical care. It also supports the NIH roadmap initiative unveiled last fall by NIH director Elias Zerhouni.

"These centres address a critical public health need for research that examines the basis of congenital and acquired heart disease in children," said acting NHLBI director Barbara Alving. "By understanding the choreography of molecular events that creates a four-chambered organ with valves, vessels, and electrical wiring, we can hope to better prevent, diagnose and treat pediatric heart disorders," she added.

Birth defects are a leading cause of infant mortality. Cardiovascular malformations, which are present in approximately one percent of live births, are the largest contributor to deaths from birth defects. Despite the enormous strides researchers have made in understanding heart development at the cellular level, in many cases the underlying cause of the cardiovascular defect is unknown. And while clinical advances have made medical and surgical treatment of complex heart defects possible in the tiniest of infants, the survivors still face numerous challenges.

"If we can improve the odds of these children surviving, and increase quality of life, then this program is a success," said Gail Pearson, leader of NHLBI's Heart Development, Function and Failure Scientific Research Group.

Pearson noted that February 14 is Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day. This national awareness day, sponsored by the Congenital Heart Information Network, is dedicated to help reduce illness and death due to congenital heart defects, and to honor affected families.

According to Pearson, the use of multidisciplinary teams is a key feature of the pediatric SCCORs. The centres will enlist a cadre of experts, including pediatric cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, immunologists, geneticists, and other pediatric clinicians, as well as molecular biologists, cell biologists, and biostatisticians, who will pool their talents to conduct state-of-the-art research addressing a central pediatric cardiovascular theme.

The research themes, the centres awarded the 5-year grants, and the principal investigators of the SCCORS are:

Boston Children's Hospital, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pittsburgh and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre.

Two of the centres (Boston and Pittsburgh) also will have Clinical Research Skills Development Cores. The cores are designed to train fellows and junior faculty in the art and science of clinical research. New clinical investigators will gain experience in areas such as grant writing, ethical conduct of research, and clinical trial design.

The NHLBI-supported SCCORs encompass priorities of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The projects highlight the strategy of encouraging a team approach that combines skills and disciplines in order to accelerate movement of scientific discoveries from the bench to the bedside.