Research
Discovering
Solutions
“We can no longer afford the misconception that heart disease is mostly a man’s problem. The need for more research into women’s heart disease is urgent.”
— Barbra Streisand
The hard truth: We don’t know enough about heart disease in women. And until we started our work, women’s diagnosis and treatment were based on medical research done on men. The Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center is working to correct these gender inequalities by researching heart disease in women and developing new diagnostic tools and specialized care for women.
Through laboratory research and clinical trials, we seek solutions that increase survival and prevention. We target early detection, risk factors, promising drugs, and lifestyle choices that have positive impact.
Testing new ideas
We are:
- Investigating the use of less-invasive MRI technology for cardiac diagnosis.
- Advancing treatments for microvascular coronary dysfunction, a deadly disorder that primarily affects women and goes undetected in standard heart disease tests.
- Identifying gender-specific genes and proteins that increase or reduce female heart disease risk, including Takotsubo Syndrome.
- Assessing sex differences in effectiveness and side effects of new and old drugs.
- Exploring the power of female stem cells to regenerate healthy heart muscle after a heart attack.
We have already identified better treatments for women who have chest pain but no visible artery blockage. We have also clarified the relationship between estrogen levels and heart disease in premenopausal women, and examining the value of acupuncture in treating heart disease.
Clinical trials
Women have been seriously underrepresented in clinical cardiac research. To involve more women, the Center established the Women’s Health Registry to encourage participation in clinical trials.
Through our growing list of investigations and programs, we are tackling women’s heart disease from all possible angles—so that women everywhere can live longer and healthier lives.