Heart failure is a major cause of death in western countries, and the main cause of hospitalization among patients over 65 years in Europe.
Diastolic dysfunction
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.
Organization
K.G. Jebsen Centre for Cardiac Research is directed by Professor Ivar Sjaastad. The centre comprises six research groups at University of Oslo; of which three are located at Ullevål Hospital, two at Rikshospitalet and one at Radiumhospitalet.
Group leaders
- Ivar Sjaastad, Centre leader
- Geir Christensen, Deputy leader
- William E. Louch
- Camilla Raiborg
- Thor Edvardsen
- Lars Gullestad
Associated partners
- Alessandro Cataliotti
- Llewelyn Roderick, University of Cambridge
- Joakim Sundnes, Simula
- Kjetil Taskén
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