Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research enterprise in the U.S., with nearly $1.3 billion in research operations in 2022. The Mass General Research Institute comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments.
But what do each of these groups do? Learn more about the individual labs and centers in our #ThroughTheMagnifyingGlass series, where we take a closer look at the teams that make up the Mass General Research Institute.
In this post, we are highlighting the Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones Clinic led by director Emily Lau, MD, MPH!
Dr. Lau is a cardiologist at Mass General and an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
What research do you perform, and why is it unique?
The research led by the Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones Clinic (CHHC) is focused on the interaction between sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) and heart disease. For example, menopause is an important time in a woman’s reproductive life when menstrual periods stop permanently, and the body makes less estrogen and progesterone. Rates of heart disease increase dramatically after menopause. We’re interested in understanding why this happens, and whether hormones play a role.
The CHHC is one of the only centers across the country focused on how hormones (both natural and synthetic) interact with heart health. We provide specialized care for:
- Women with heart disease, or those who are at risk for heart disease as they transition through menopause
- Young women with heart disease who are considering hormonal birth control
- Individuals with heart disease (or at risk for heart disease) who are beginning or currently taking gender-affirming hormone therapy
What publication is really important to your ongoing research?
The publication we want to highlight is Infertility and Risk of Heart Failure in the Women’s Health Initiative, published in JACC in April 2022.
In the study of over 38,000 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, we discovered that a history of infertility was significantly associated with incidents of heart failure, particularly heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Meet the Team
The CHHC is a unique group of clinicians, investigators, data analysts and research coordinators who are all bound together by their shared passion for improving cardiovascular health in women. Everyone brings their own expertise, experiences and personality to the group, which enables the CHHC to do impactful and innovative work.
The patient is at the center of all our work. In fact, we like to call our research “bedside to bench research” because it is the experiences we have caring for our patients that drive the questions we ask in our research. Since the team has clinicians and investigators working alongside each other, it really enables us to translate patient experiences into important research investigations.
How does your research apply to everyday people's lives?
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the US and worldwide. There are risk factors for heart disease that are unique to women including early age of menopause and/or adverse pregnancy outcomes. Our research has the potential to help us better understand the unique factors that drive heart disease development in women and ultimately how to improve heart disease outcomes for women.
What is something you wish everyone knew about the research you perform?
Although women make up more than half of the US population, they only make up about 25% of research participants. We need more women enrolled in clinical research to be able to improve the health of women.
If you are interested in participating in their ongoing research study, click here.
About the Mass General Research Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research program in the United States. Our researchers work side-by-side with physicians to develop innovative new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease.
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