Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. This includes conditions such as coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure and others according to the American Heart Association.

Since every February is dedicated to heart health awareness, we reached out to some of our cardiology researchers to see what they’re working on currently.

Sawalla Guseh, MD

Director, Cardiovascular Performance Fellowship Program

Sawalla Guseh, MD studies the cardiovascular biology of exercise and uses unique human and animal models as well as molecular and cellular techniques to understand how exercise influences the biology of the heart. We suspect that a deeper understanding of the biology of exercise and how it beneficially reprograms the heart may help to inspire new therapies for heart disease and offer new ways to enhance our collective health.

In addition to his scientific pursuits, Dr. Guseh is a clinical cardiologist who sees patients in the Mass General Cardiovascular Performance Program where he offers specialized care for athletes and active individuals and sees patients seeking to enhance their cardiovascular health.

Recent Publications:

• Cardiac Structure and Function in Elite Female and Male Soccer Players
• Obesity and the Risk of Intubation or Death in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019
• An expanded repertoire of intensity-dependent exercise-responsive plasma proteins tied to loci of human disease risk
• Training-Associated Changes in Ventricular Volumes and Function in Elite Female Runners
• Association of Ascending Aortic Dilatation and Long-term Endurance Exercise Among Older Masters-Level Athletes

Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP

General and Preventive Cardiologist

Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP, is a general and preventive cardiologist at Mass General and a researcher focused on the prevention and treatment of heart disease, with a focus on women. 

His research uses large cohorts, classical epidemiology, human genetics, and imaging to understand emerging risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including premature age at menopause and adverse pregnancy outcomes (e.g., preeclampsia).

He also studies strategies for making pregnancy safe for women with heart disease, as well as ways to improve heart risk prediction more broadly and to identify individuals who benefit most from specific preventive therapies.

Recent publications: 

• Premature Menopause, Clonal Hematopoiesis, and Coronary Artery Disease in Postmenopausal Women
• Association of Premature Natural and Surgical Menopause With Incident Cardiovascular Disease
• Long-Term Cardiovascular Risk in Women With Hypertension During Pregnancy
• Genetic Variation in Cardiometabolic Traits and Medication Targets and the Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy
• Heart Failure in Women With Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: Insights From the Cardiovascular Disease in Norway Project

Judy Hung, MD

Director of Echocardiography

Mitral regurgitation is a condition in which blood flows backward in the heart due to failure of the mitral valve to completely close. When severe, the condition can require hospitalization and may be fatal.

Judy Hung, MD, director of Echocardiography in the Division of Cardiology, conducts research focused on valvular heart disease, why patients develop mitral valve regurgitation after heart attacks and developing better methods to treat it.

She also studies coronary artery disease and how to optimize noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques to improve diagnosis and treatment of heart disease

Recent publications:

• Mitral Regurgitation Postinfarction: The Mitral Valve Adapts to the Times
• Residual Shunt After Patent Foramen Ovale Closure and Long-Term Stroke Recurrence
• Prognostic importance of the transmitral pressure gradient in mitral annular calcification with associated mitral valve dysfunction
• Case 24-2020: A 44-Year-Old Woman with Chest Pain, Dyspnea, and Shock
• Managing Severe Aortic Stenosis in the COVID-19 Era

About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. Our research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care.
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