IEMR hosts the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Cardiac Research, a collaboration between six partner groups at the University of Oslo funded by the KG Jebsen. The aim of the centre is to identify key factors responsible for diastolic dysfunction through a translational approach.
Heart failure is a major cause of death in Western countries and the main cause of hospitalization among patients over 65 years in Europe. Traditionally, heart failure is associated with reduced pumping capacity of the heart. However, deteriorated filling of the heart, known as diastolic dysfunction, has recently been acknowledged as a prominent cause of HF, accounting for nearly 50% of all cases. Diastolic dysfunction is linked to increased stiffness of the myocardium and is highly relevant in patients with for instance aortic stenosis, hypertension, diabetes and cardiomyopathies. There is currently no effective medical treatment for diastolic dysfunction. This suggests that important pathological mechanisms remain unknown. Our primary objective is therefore to identify the key mechanisms underlying diastolic dysfunction and “the stiff heart”.
Organization
Professor Ivar Sjaastad is the Center Leader, and Professor Geir Christensen is the Deputy Center Leader. Three of the groups in the Center are located at IEMR, two at Dept. of Cardiology, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, and one at Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet. Additional associated partners are located at IEMR, regionally and abroad. The centre is funded by the foundation Kristian Gerhard Jebsen.
Partner groups
Ivar Sjaastad, Centre leader, IEMR
Geir Christensen, Deputy leader, IEMR
William E. Louch, IEMR
Camilla Raiborg, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet
Thor Edvardsen, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet
Lars Gullestad, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet
Associated partners
Alessandro Cataliotti, IEMR
Llewelyn Roderick, KU Leuven
Joakim Sundnes, Simula
Kjetil Taskén, Oslo University Hospital Radiumhospitalet
Scientific advisory board (SAB)
Professor David Kass, MD, PhD.
Abraham and Virginia Weiss Professor of Cardiology, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. Director, Institute for CardioScience. The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Professor Jagat Narula, MD, PhD
Professor in Medicine, Cardiology, Radiology at The Mount Sinai Hospital, NY, USA. Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Program in Mount Sinai’s Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and the Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health. Philip J. and Harriet L. Goodhart Chair in Cardiology. Emeritus editor-in-chief in JACC Cardiovascular imaging. Executive editor in JACC.