Purpose
Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the leading cause of infant mortality associated with birth defects and can result in chronic disability (both physical and mental), morbidity, and increased health care costs.
New areas of cardiac therapy such as stem cell therapy are being rapidly developed for adult heart disease. One of our goals is to make progress in understanding how stem cells can be directed toward cardiac regeneration and repair of the infant heart with CHD.
We have active programs in research that work toward our overall vision of enhancing the diagnosis and treatment of infants and children with Congenital Heart Defects.
The goal of the Center is to integrate basic science, translational clinical research with a focus on three areas:
1. Identifying novel targets for therapy designed for the pediatric cardiac patient through basic science studies of cardiac development and heart failure.
2. Utilize the large cohort of congenital heart patients seen at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for prospective studies to optimize surgical methods and timing of repair of heart defects to improve outcomes.
3. Improve the quality of life of children with congenital heart disease through understanding and ameliorating injury that occurs at the time of surgical repair.
