Improving Heart Health Through Research.

The ASE's mission is to improve lives through the application of cardiovascular ultrasound imaging in its many forms. An instrumental way to do this is to explore knowledge gaps through research activities. February is Heart Month, an ideal time to reflect upon ASE's ongoing research efforts dedicated towards the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. The table, below, shows the diverse inventory of research-related projects developed within the ASE's ecosystem of committees, work groups, and the ASE Foundation - not just the Research Committee! This impressive list may not be apparent even to leaders within ASE due to rapid developments. As you can see, our ASE environment has proven to be a fertile ground for an entrepreneurial style of research development along many avenues. Within our existing structure, creativity happens because there are few limits placed on what we would like to achieve. However, the “magic” requires an organizational framework for scientific oversight and financial support. I am happy to report that in early December we conducted the first brainstorming meeting by our new research oversight work group headed by Dr. Sam Siu. Included in the group are key ASE stakeholders from diverse clinical backgrounds and a variety of areas within the Society including our Research Committee, JASE, the ASE Foundation, ImageGuideEcho Registry Committee, ASE Board, and the IRT Committee. We discussed ways to enhance the growth of ASE Research, coordinate activities, and how to improve the visibility of our many exciting projects both internally within the ASE family and to the outside world. Let's take a look at some of our ongoing research. In 2021, we had progress in many areas (see table). One of the most prolific has been from our World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography (WASE) studies. To date, 10 original research manuscripts coming from this international collaborative group have been published in JASE. This series redefines the understanding of normative values for cardiac chambers in the adult population internationally. In addition, the WASE-COVID study has completed its data gathering and has resulted to date in two publications that help understand the acute and mid-term cardiac consequences of COVID infection. Our PIs, Roberto Lang, MD, FASE, and Federico Asch, MD, FASE, lead a group of international WASE investigators in finalizing additional reports. The ASE E21 Research Grant program, which funded partnerships between early career physician-scientists and engineers to tackle clinical gaps, is just now wrapping up. The bold endeavors funded by the E21 awards will help shape the future for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic uses of ultrasound in cardiovascular medicine. The 2022 Annual Scientific Sessions in Seattle will highlight the results of these research programs. Yasufami Nagata, MD, PhD, from the Massachusetts General Hospital, is our first Pamela S. Douglas Research Scholar fellow for clinical or translational research in advanced cardiovascular imaging. Dr. Nagata's research is entitled “Seeking Treatable Promotors of Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation: Using Advanced Echocardiographic Techniques to Discover Molecular and Cellular Factors,” and we look forward to hearing about his progress in June in Seattle as well. Research is often at the forefront of the field, and it increases the velocity of innovation. Our two Innovation Awards in Cardiovascular Imaging, sponsored by the ASE Foundation, were created to fund projects that expand the key role of echocardiography, or the development of novel technology in clinical diagnosis or management. Two early career winners were selected by our ASE Research Committee: Olivier Villemain, MD, PhD, from The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto, and Bethel Woldu, MD, MPH, from Medstar Heart and Vascular Institute. Dr. Villemain's project, “Myocardial Stiffness and Coronary Microperfusion Assessment for Early Detection of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Children after Cardiac Transplantation: Human Application of Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging,” seeks to revolutionize the treatment of children after cardiac transplantation. Dr. Woldu's research is entitled “Non-Invasive Assessment of Myocardial Work to Differentiate TTR Cardiac Amyloidosis from Hypertensive Cardiomyopathy,” and especially seeks to close the gap in adverse cardiac outcomes and reduce healthcare disparities among at-risk populations in the greater Washington, DC - Baltimore area. In 2022, ASE will also be writing an extensive request for application (RFA) for projects related to practice patterns for the echocardiographic diagnosis and reporting of aortic stenosis, a project generously supported by Edwards Lifesciences. This June, onsite at our annual Scientific Sessions, an exciting Hackathon project, chaired by Dr. Carol Mitchell, will unfold. In 2021, the ASE developed a partnership with the very large Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society (IEEE UFFC-S) to create five teams, with each team consisting of two PhD-level academic researcher members from UFFC-S and one ASE-assigned domain expert critical care clinician. The five teams will compete to develop a novel method using ultrasound for the continuous monitoring of critical care patients. ASE-assigned clinicians include critical care pediatric, critical care cardiovascular anesthesia, pulmonary critical care, and adult cardiovascular specialists. The team meetings are under way in preparation for this upcoming June event! We are also focused on expanding external collaborations, and two such projects are underway. The first, spearheaded by ASE's Board member, Vandana Sachdev, MD, FASE, is a potential public private partnership in heart failure research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Foundation for NIH. The other is focused on helping Veteran's Administration hospitals to be involved in cardiovascular imaging research through a partnership with the National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF). Internally, the ASE's ImageGuideEcho Registry is thriving, with over 320,000 exam reports in place with image uploads coming next. The Registry is considering many projects, specifically focusing on the acceleration of DICOM images within the registry interface – an activity prioritized by our ASE Board of Directors. The registry will ultimately house a vast quantity of real-world echo exam data, and this resource for investigators has the potential for providing important discoveries. Our dedication to these projects and all forms of cardiovascular ultrasound-related research has the potential to change the landscape of cardiovascular disease diagnosis and management. We invite you to give us your feedback not only on how we are doing but also on how to involve more ASE members in these diverse and impactful efforts of cardiovascular research.Raymond Stainback, MD, FASE, is Chief of Non-invasive Cardiology at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston, Texas and associate professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He has been an ASE member since 1994 and is ASE's current President. This text also appears in the February Echo magazine (ASEcho.org/EchoMagazine/)