{"id":108180,"date":"2021-10-31T13:56:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T18:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=108180"},"modified":"2021-11-03T16:27:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T21:27:26","slug":"biomedical-engineering-professor-researches-causes-behind-heart-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/biomedical-engineering-professor-researches-causes-behind-heart-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Biomedical Engineering Professor Researches Causes Behind Heart Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nikki Reinemann (left), UM assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and her graduate assistant Omayma Al Azzam review the outcomes from their optical trap experiment. Submitted photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Nikki Reinemann, assistant professor of biomedical engineering<\/a> at the University of Mississippi, has received a prestigious three-year grant from the American Heart Association<\/a> for her research into the underlying causes of heart disease.<\/p>\n

Reinemann is hoping that her work may help physicians better understand the origins of heart disease, the nation’s No. 1 cause of death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. Specifically, she is looking at the molecular mechanisms of muscle contraction and how they affect the heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand how an individual molecule works,\u201d Reinemann said. \u201cWe understand how a muscle functions. What I\u2019m trying to understand is how do those individual molecules work together<\/em> to achieve that muscular function.\u201d<\/p>\n

American Heart Association funding<\/strong><\/p>\n

To pursue this work, Reinemann applied for, and received, an Early Career Development Award from the American Heart Association. The grant is designed to advance the research skills of nontenured professors who have been in academia for less than five years.<\/p>\n

And, it is a competitive field, with only 17% of research project applications accepted.<\/p>\n

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Reinemann prepares the optical trap for her next experiment. Submitted photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Reinemann will receive $231,000 over the three-year period. This will help fund the necessary materials, along with research assistance from two undergraduate students and a graduate student from UM engineering departments. <\/p>\n

As a grant requirement, she pulled together a mentoring team to provide advice on project direction, management and future grant proposals. Ole Miss chemistry professor Nathan Hammer is serving as her primary mentor. This is particularly fitting as Hammer served as her research adviser when she was an undergraduate in chemical engineering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very proud to have had a role in her early development, and now I am honored to get the opportunity to collaborate with her on cutting-edge research projects,\u201d Hammer said. \u201cI have every confidence that her career as a professor here at UM will be very successful, and I am happy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A laser focus on a healthy heart<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reinemann is looking into the causes behind heart wall thickening or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This condition can cause shortness of breath, chest pain and even death in young adults. This is a personal challenge, as her father died of a heart attack in his 50s.<\/p>\n