The Editors of the American Heart Association's (AHA) journal Circulation Research have awarded Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers a "Best Manuscript Award" for their investigations on repair and reversal of heart attack damage.
The winning manuscript, "Stem Cell Factor Gene Transfer Promotes Cardiac Repair After Myocardial Infarction via In Situ Recruitment and Expansion of c-kit+ Cells," was published in the Nov. 9, 2012 issue.
The manuscript was one of only five research articles honored among the 204 articles published in the journal between July 2012 and June 2013. The award was presented on Nov. 17 to the Mount Sinai study's lead author Elisa Yaniz-Galende, PhD, and senior-author Roger J. Hajjar, MD, during the AHA Scientific Sessions 2013 in Dallas, Texas.
Additional co-authors sharing this honor from Mount Sinai are Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, Jiqiu Chen, MD, Elie Chemaly, MD, Lifan Liang, MD, Jean-Sebastien Hulot, MD, PhD, LaTronya McCollum, PhD, and Teresa Arias, PhD; and Krisztina M. Zsebo, PhD, from the Celladon Corporation.
Their team's study manuscript was selected for its high standards of scientific exellence for novelty, impact, and methodology and because it represents some of the very best work published in Circulation Research. Also, the study was recognized as one of the 2012 top ten most read original articles.
"We are extremely honored to be applauded by the editors of Circulation Research for our innovative research findings and our collaborative research team's hard work," says senior author Dr. Roger Hajjar, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center and the Arthur & Janet C. Ross Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We sincerely thank the journal for this wonderful recognition, publishing our manuscript, and sharing our important advancement in cardiac regenerative medicine with the world."
The award winning manuscript reported how to enhance cardiac repair and reverse injury after a heart attack. The study identified the critical role stem cell factor (SCF) molecules can play in cardiac repair and cardiac regeneration through recruitment and expansion of cardiac c-kit+ progenitor and stem cells. In their preclinical study, researchers showed the potential clinical benefits of using SCF adenoviral gene transfer shortly after heart attack to gain a regenerative repair response. Research results showed SCF overexpression can help increase recruitment of resident cardiac c-kit+ progenitor and stem cells to the damaged heart attack area and increase the presence of other cardiac cells known as cardiomyocytes. This potential therapy showed significant improvement in cardiac function, reduced heart damage, and minimized cardiac muscle cell death.
"It is always a true honor to collaborate with Dr. Hajjar on stellar research publications such as this winning manuscript. I congratulate him and the rest of our team at Mount Sinai Heart on a job well done," says Dr. Fuster, co-author of the study, Director of Mount Sinai Heart and Physician-in-Chief at The Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Fuster is past President of the AHA and the next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). "I am very proud of Dr. Hajjar for his strong leadership and contributions in the field of cardiovascular research and translational medicine."
In 2012, Dr. Fuster was honored at the AHA Scientific Sessions with its Research Achievement Award for his significant and enduring contributions to cardiovascular medicine, achievements that have accelerated progress toward conquering disease and enriching the human condition worldwide.
In addition, on Nov. 19 at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2013 Dr. Hajjar will be named by the Officers of the AHA and the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences as the recipient of the 2013 BCVS Distinguished Achievement Award. He is recognized as a Council member who has made major contributions to the affairs of a Scientific Council and for his substantial professional contributions to the field of cardiovascular research.
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