Work on diabetes and heart disease wins WU researcher award

April 14, 2006 -- Jean Schaffer, M.D., has won a Clinical Scientists Award in Translational Research from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) to support her work on understanding how diabetes contributes to heart failure. Schaffer, associate professor of medicine and of molecular biology and pharmacology, was one of only 10 physician-scientists in the country to receive this year's award, which provides each recipient with $750,000 over five years for research that has an impact on patient care.

Jean Schaffer

According to Schaffer, diabetes increases the risk of heart failure even in the absence of heart valve abnormalities, high blood pressure or significant coronary artery disease. Evidence shows that high levels of fats in the blood and insulin resistance — factors commonly seen in diabetic patients — lead to an unusually large absorption of fat by the cells in heart muscle. The BWF award will support a project exploring the toxic effects of excessive fat uptake by heart muscle in diabetes.

This excess exposure of the diabetic heart to fats is associated with dysfunction and death of heart muscle cells, both of which contribute to heart failure in diabetic people. Schaffer's laboratory team will focus on understanding the basic mechanisms of this toxic reaction to fats and how these processes contribute to heart failure.

BWF launched the Translational Awards program in 1997, and an investment of $51 million has been made through 69 awards. The awards enable investigators to apply research knowledge at the patient's bedside and bring insight from the clinical setting back to the laboratory for further study. An important facet of the award supports mentoring trainees.

"These awards will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of disease as well as new methods of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease," says BWF president, Enriqueta C. Bond, Ph.D. "BWF is particularly interested in supporting physician-scientists who bring novel ideas and new approaches to translational research."

The 2006 BWF Translational Award recipients are working in areas ranging from cancer diagnosis and therapy to hypertension and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Washington University School of Medicine's full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.