American Heart Association Awards $15 Million to Research Early Detection of Heart Valve Disease
A new $15 million research initiative led by three major medical institutions aims to transform heart valve disease care by focusing on early detection and prevention strategies for a condition affecting over 80 million people worldwide.
The American Heart Association has launched a $15 million research initiative involving three major medical institutions to address the growing global burden of heart valve disease, which affects more than 80 million people worldwide according to the American Heart Association's 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics. The Strategically Focused Research Network on Earlier Detection and Delaying Progression of Valvular Heart Disease represents a strategic shift toward identifying the condition before symptoms become severe, when treatment options are more effective and complications can be prevented.
Heart valve disease contributes to more than 57,000 deaths annually in the United States alone, with the condition becoming more common with age and often progressing silently without early warning signs. "By the time symptoms appear, damage may already be done - making early detection and treatment essential," said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association. The Association has identified heart valve disease as a key focus area and continues supporting clinicians through programs like the Heart Valve Initiative and Target: Aortic Stenosis™ quality improvement program.
The four-year awards, which began April 1, 2026, will fund collaborative research across three centers. Mass General Brigham's VALVE-iPROTECT Center, led by Elena Aikawa, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, will focus on calcific aortic stenosis (AS), a serious condition where the aortic valve gradually becomes stiff and narrowed. Currently, no medication can stop or slow this disease, so patients are often monitored for years until valve replacement becomes necessary. The center aims to change this paradigm by studying the earliest molecular changes that trigger valve calcification, using advanced imaging to track active disease, and developing clinical calculators to identify issues before major valve damage is visible.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Strategic Hub for Interventions to Promote Early Detection and Lifelong Protection from Advanced Rheumatic Heart Disease (SHIELD) Center will address rheumatic heart disease (RHD), the leading cause of heart valve disease in children and young adults affecting at least 55 million people worldwide, especially in low-income countries and underserved communities. Led by Andrea Beaton, M.D., M.S., FAHA, the center will test strategies including artificial intelligence-supported heart screening to detect RHD earlier, digital patient registries to connect people to ongoing care, and community-based support systems to help patients stay on preventive medications. The center involves global collaboration with partners in Uganda, Brazil, Timor-Leste, and multiple U.S. institutions.
The University of Pittsburgh's Center For Aortic Valve Disease Prediction And Integrated Research, led by Cynthia St. Hilaire, Ph.D., FAHA, will investigate how known risk factors, systemic inflammation, and biomechanical forces interact to sensitize valves toward calcification. Researchers will build more realistic systems to study disease progression under conditions of real valve motion and blood flow, aiming to identify people at highest risk using practical biomarkers, clinical imaging, and machine learning. The center will also examine how lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), initiates calcification of valve cells and develop treatments that block these processes.
This new network represents the American Heart Association's continued investment in cardiovascular research, with the organization having now funded more than $6.1 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health research since 1949. The Association has established 19 Strategically Focused Research Networks addressing various strategic issues, each bringing together investigators with expertise in basic, clinical and population/behavioral health science to find new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent heart disease and stroke.