CSON's Melissa Uveges awarded American Heart Association grant
Connell School of Nursing Assistant Professor Melissa Uveges has received a research grant from the American Heart Association to support her project studying the screening of pediatric patients for the genetic condition, Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH), that causes high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, also known as “bad cholesterol.”
Uveges’s grant, an Implementation Science Award for $396,500, represents the largest AHA research grant ever awarded to Boston College and the first AHA research grant ever for the Connell School.
Melissa Uveges (Peter Julian)
According to statistics cited by Uveges, about 1 in 250 individuals has FH. This is significant given that high levels of LDL cholesterol can lead to heart disease, which is the number one killer worldwide, according to the AHA.
Identifying FH early can result in a longer, healthier life, said Uveges. In the United States, screening recommendations for FH are conflicting. While the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reports insufficient evidence to recommend routine screening for FH in children, other organizations—including the AHA—endorse screening for FH in all children ages 9-11.
“My research collaborator Dr. Sarah de Ferranti, associate professor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Ambulatory Cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital, was co-principal investigator on a study which found that screening for FH in children is better than screening for FH in adults because early screening allows for early initiation of medications to treat FH,” explained Uveges. “Treating FH early results in less heart disease later in life.”
Despite these findings, said Uveges, “it remains unclear which screening approaches (i.e., preferred childhood age to screen for FH, whether to test for cholesterol or gene changes) and treatment approaches (i.e., which treatments, if any) would be preferred by families and providers if FH is diagnosed in a child.”
Uveges’s project, “An implementation strategy bundle to enhance adoption of pediatric Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) screening,” is about developing family-, provider-, and organizational-level strategies for improving the screening of pediatric patients (children ages 9-11) for FH.
“In this study, we will survey doctors and organization leaders, as well as interview children and parents, which will help us develop strategies that will increase the number of children screened for FH,” said Uveges. “In a future study, we will test these strategies to make sure they work. In the long run, we anticipate that this study will inform U.S. FH screening recommendations.
“I am fortunate that this work will be supported by the American Heart Association and am grateful for the opportunity to conduct this study, which is critical to pediatric and long-term public health,” she said.
Dr. de Ferranti and BC School of Social Work Assistant Professor Whitney Irie will serve as co-investigators on this project.
Uveges, who joined the Connell School faculty in 2020, is focused on improving the care of children with genetic conditions, as well as the health and care experience of their families. She has worked as a nurse in neonatal intensive care units and serves on Boston Children’s Hospital’s Ethics Committee. She is a member of the AHA, International Society of Nurses in Genetics, American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, and International Family Nursing Association.
Founded in 1924, the American Heart Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.