Where did my passion for the Cardiovascular system begin?
Well Diabetes was never taboo in my family. However observing the different ways it was treated, the perception of it within and outside of my community proved the necessity for scientists who understood the community.
I always enjoyed learning about the heart but my passion really began in my Physiology undergrad @UofGlasgow. Learning about its complexity in nature from molecular to organ function, and the various diseases associated showed me that there was a lot of work to be done.
Heart failure is complex! The diabetic heart varies in many ways and as I go through my research and unlock the many differences, the urgency of the work is consistently revealed to me.
Diabetic Cardiomyopathy is characterised by the progression of diastolic dysfunction to heart failure in the absence of coronary artery disease and hypertension. This is UNDER RECOGNISED! There is an urgent need to better understand the pathophysiology of this disease.
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Hi 👋🏾 My name is Adama and I'm here to carry on the conversation on all things #BlackInCardioWeek with a little bit about me( @catalystinme_ ). Really excited 🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀🫀
So why cardiovascular science?
I am a bit obsessive and ever since i learnt about circulation my mind was fixated on the heart. To me it's a simple but complex and obviously incredibly important organ 😍
Outside of direct science I am a few people
1. I love design 2. Passionate about science communication ( we'll talk more about this) 3. Love food and watch an unhealthy amount of netflix 🤪
What I love about #BlackInCardioWeek so far is how diverse and interdisciplinary it has been in terms of what we are all doing to contribute to the field 🤩
The reality is that cardiovascular health requires the collaboration between research, public health, epidemiology, clinical expertise and scientific communication in order to ensure the overall improvement in the education of cardiovascular health #BlackInCardioWeek
A common theme that has resonated with me from the live sessions so far there will be a personal motivation as to why you have decided to pursue contributing to the advancement of cardiovascular science #BlackInCardioWeek
So why did I enter into cardiovascular research? 👀
Well I fell in love with cardiovascular pharmacology during my BSc and was intrigued about the pathophysiology of various CVDs such as heart failure, atherosclerosis, hypertension, myocardial ischaemia and arrhythmias
My PhD research in particular is looking into the biological mechanisms of obesity within the adipose tissue and how this can lead to the manifestation of CVDs #BlackInCardioWeek#BlackInCardioMetabolic
Obesity is one of the main risk factors of cardiovascular disease and it usually arises when there is an imbalance between the calories consumed and calories expended especially the excessive consumption of high fat food.
Let's talk about COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Remember what I said about Black people having higher rates of CVD/cardiometabolic diseases (hypertension, stroke, diabetes...). These diseases are or might be risk factors for severe COVID-19. bit.ly/39S5Qgl
On top of that, Black people are more exposed to the disease (first responders, taking the bus, precarious housing situations that make it hard to social distance, etc.). All of these issues are direct consequences of disparities in income/housing segregation (see redlining)...
COVID-19 also [often] leads to a coagulopathy (or abnormal blood coagulation) that both increases blood clots and inflammation. I am sure you've heard of the COVID-19 cytokine storm. The level of coagulopathy corresponds to the severity of COVID-19.
Few studies, in the US, have an adequate number of Black participants. I'm lucky to work for one. The REGARDS study (REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke) is one of the largest and most diverse cohort studies in the US (bit.ly/3ocjIJ1)
Between 2003-2007, the REGARDS study enrolled more than 30K participants all over the US (especially the Southeastern Stroke Belt region of the US). A lot of what we know about racial disparities in stroke and other cardiovascular diseases come from the REGARDS.
Happy Friday! I'm @MeredithSchmehl and I want to take a quick break from #SciComm to tell you more about my lab's research! Members of my lab discovered that when your eyes move, your eardrums move too. Curious? Read on! 1/13
Let's take a step back. Earlier in the week, I told you about how I study the brain. But there's another part of my lab that studies the ear! They're looking at the relationship between the ears and eyes to figure out how we locate things and make mental maps of space 2/13
They do this by putting tiny microphones in people's ears - kind of like earbuds! But instead of playing music, the earbuds actually record what's happening inside the ear canal 3/13