Doing Good in the World of BAV and Thoracic Aortic Disease

BAV and aorta research in Ottawa involves mice like this one

My thoughts return often to the research in progress at the University of Ottawa.

 It is hard to find words that will convey what the efforts there mean to those of us with BAV and thoracic aortic disease.

I will try. 

One of the memories I have from my visit to Ottawa is holding the upper half of a human heart in my gloved hands. The lower half had been cut away. As I looked inside at the upper chambers and valves, to my surprise I saw this was a heart whose aortic valve had been replaced. The biological aortic valve that had been so carefully stitched in place by a surgeon's hands was still firmly in place.

I cannot describe the emotions that flowed through me then, and once again now, thinking of an unknown someone whose heart somehow came to be donated to medicine, to be studied after their life ended. I think of Dr. Abbott's work with preserved hearts in what is today the Maude Abbott Medical Museum in Montreal. There are hearts with BAV there. I hope to see them one day.

The cost of progress that others might live longer and more fully can indeed be very high. The cost of someone else's life. An even greater cost, a tragedy, occurs when lives are lost without learning from them how to help others. It means others will continue to suffer and die.

Everything about these mice, including diet, is meticulously tracked

Mice Hearts and BAV - Families Just Like Ours

We need not learn from our human families alone. At the University of Ottawa there are two different mice groups with specific genetic deficiencies that produce BAV. Like human families, some have BAV, some do not. Each one has their only individual experience, although having the same genetics. They are teaching researchers there about BAV, and they are very good teachers, accurately representing the variability of BAV and aortic aneurysm.  It was a great thrill to visit them and listen to what researchers are learning from them. This research is performed in the Nemer Lab, which is contained within the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology. 

MRI for research in Ottawa
(Note the small, mouse-size opening!)

Echocardiogram machine
just right for mouse hearts!

Research is Costly

Dr. Sharo Raissi (BAF) with Dr. Daniel Figeys

Dr. Daniel Figeys heads the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology within the School of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. This department includes the Nemer Lab and BAV research. Dr. Figeys very kindly gave us a tour of the research facilities.  It was impressive to see so much equipment in this facility that is solely aimed at understanding disease and alleviating human suffering.

 

 Doing Good in Our World

Dr. Sharo Raissi (BAF), Arlys Velebir (BAF), Dr. Daniel Figeys

At the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation, thanks to donations from the public, we have been able to fund scholarships to support BAV research in the Nemer Lab in Ottawa. They are adding important understanding to the knowlege Dr. Abbott established so long ago.
Some of us with BAV in our families will be called upon to teach the doctors who care for us more about BAV and TAD than they currently know. Those who have wise, skilled and compassionate physicians to walk beside them will indeed add to medical knowledge as their experiences unfold.

However, anyone so moved can make a contribution to help. In these last days and weeks of 2018, our thoughts may turn  to many things, including where we might give financially that will truly do good in our world.

This is to tell you that you can do good in the world of those with BAV and thoracic aortic disease through a donation to BAF, as we collaborate with those working to understand BAV and thoracic aortic disease. You may donate online at MightyCause 

Thank you for joining with us and

Creating a Climate of Hope,

~ Arlys Velebir, Chairman

        Bicuspid Aortic Foundation 

Bicuspid Aortic Foundation Announces 2018 M.E. Abbott Scholarship

Lara Gharibeh, PhD, Arlys Velebir, BAF, Alice Lau, PhD
Lara was awarded the 2017 M.E. Abbott Scholarship
Alice is the recipient of the 2018 M.E. Abbott Scholarship

The Bicuspid Aortic Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2018 M.E. Abbott Scholarship is awarded to Alice Lau, PhD.  Alice is a researcher in the Molecular Genetics and Cardiac Regeneration Laboratory led by Dr. Mona Nemer at the University of Ottawa.

Recently I spent some wonderful days with these dedicated and talented young researchers. It is hard to find the words to describe walking into the laboratory where they spend their days and often labor late into the night, pursuing answers to what are life and death questions for those with BAV and TAD. 

Lara and Alice in the Nemer Lab

They seek these answers in the mice families that are so similar to their human counterparts. Some have aortic valves with only two leaflets, others have all three leaflets. Some have aortic aneurysms, and some do not. Why do only some have the bicuspid valve? Why do some dissect while others do not? Why do some have a seemingly carefree life, and others get into serious trouble? These mice families have the same genetics. So what makes the differences?

If we could understand these things, we could understand better who is in the most danger in our human families, and so many other things we want to know.  

Their work with such tiny hearts is aided by microscope and computer displays

Through the generosity of so many, BAF is able to support their research through these scholarships. In doing so, we are all truly supporting ground breaking research. As they publish their results, we will share them with you.

Supporting these brilliant, young researchers,

Together, we are

Creating a Climate of Hope

~ Arlys Velebir

  This link gives background on why this scholarship

 is given in the name of pioneering physican  Dr .M.E. Abbott 

Bicuspid Aortic Foundation Awards Scholarship to BAV Researcher

The Bicuspid Aortic Foundation is pleased to announce the awarding of our M. E. Abbott Scholarship to PhD candidate Lara Gharibeh, a student in the Molecular Genetics and Cardiac Regeneration Laboratory at the University of Ottawa.

 The M. E. Abbott Scholarship seeks to recognize those whose work today, in the pioneering excellence tradition of Dr. Abbott, carries on the search for answers to vital questions faced by families with bicuspid aortic valve.  

This full one year scholarship, effective September 1st, 2017, will provide support for the research project "Molecular mechanisms underlying BAV-associated aortopathy".  In the course of this research, an understanding of the cause and mechanism of valve calcification will be sought. In addition, the question of  the impact of valve geometry versus genetics on aortic aneurysm and rupture in response to stress will be examined. Both of these questions are critically important to BAV families.  It is our firm conviction that the ground breaking work in progress in this laboratory in Ottawa is vital to advancing knowledge, individualizing treatment, and thus promoting the well-being and longevity of individuals and families where bicuspid aortic valve is present. 

Diseased thoracic aorta

We are particularly pleased to support this work through funds given in memory of Charles Doherty, who tragically lost his life at the age of 34 due to complications from his bicuspid aortic valve.

We are also pleased that this scholarship begins with September, the month when we observe Thoracic Aortic Disease Awareness.

If you would like to help us support research like this in the future, please donate to the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation. 

Stay tuned for more updates on the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation's mission and programs!