D-H researchers share grant for rural cardiac surgery trials

LEBANON — Dartmouth-Hitchcock will share a $3.9 million grant with a Maine medical center for research relating to increasing access to cardiac surgery clinical trials for people in rural areas.

The grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute will help expand access to treatment for patients in New Hampshire and Maine — the states with the oldest populations in the country, according to a Tuesday news release.

“This grant will provide opportunities to bring innovative cardiovascular therapies and clinical trials to our rural patients with high rates of cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Alexander Iribarne, the director of cardiac surgery research at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who will serve as principal investigator for the seven-year grant, said in a Tuesday news release.

People living in rural areas in northern New England generally have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, which contribute to a shorter life expectancy, the release said.

In addition to expanding access to patients, the grant also increases opportunities for junior faculty and fellows at DHMC and Portland-based Maine Medical Center by including funding for a Clinical and Implementation Research Skills Program.

“As doctors, we always want to move towards providing the most up-to-date treatments for our patients, and building our research capabilities is an important way to do that,” Dr. Doug Sawyer, a co-investigator on the grant and Maine Medical Center’s chief academic officer, said in the release.

— Staff report