HYATTSVILLE, MD - February 09, 2016 - MedStar Health Research Institute was recently awarded grant funding through the Charles and Mary Latham Fund. The Fund, established in 1972 by Ella O. Latham in memory of her parents, supports medical research for the cure of disease in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
Three MedStar Health physician-investigators were awarded funding for their individual medical research projects:
Rachel K. Scott, MD, for her study, Pregnancy outcomes of women living with HIV in DC: a retrospective matched cohort study of maternal and neonatal outcomes from October 2004 to present.As part of the study, Dr. Scott will identify the adverse pregnancy outcomes HIV positive women are at risk for which will provide critical insight into maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes in pregnancies complicated by HIV.Aarthi Shenoy, MD, for her study, Predicting illness severity in sickle cell patients admitted to the hospital with vaso-occlusive crisis,which will seek to identify biological predictors, effective interventions, and improved care-delivery practices to optimize the care of patients with sickle cell anemia.Jose Danilo Vargas, MD, for his study, The Role of APOL1 Genetic Variants in Cardiovascular Outcomes in African American Renal Transplant Recipients. The goal of the project is to determine the role of APOL1 genotype on cardiovascular outcomes on MedStar renal transplant recipients of African American descent."We are extremely grateful to the Charles and Mary Latham Fund and its corporate trustee, SunTrust for their support of research at MedStar. Through the important work of Drs. Scott, Shenoy and Vargas, we can vigorously pursue better health outcomes for our patients living in the Washington, D.C., metro area," said Neil J. Weissman, MD, president of MedStar Health Research Institute.
About MedStar Health Research Institute The MedStar Health Research Institute is the research arm of MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region. The Research Institute provides scientific, administrative and regulatory support for research programs throughout the MedStar Health system. Its expertise includes translational research into disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. These programs complement the key clinical services and teaching programs in the 10 MedStar hospitals and other MedStar entities. Visit us at www.medstarresearch.org.