WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Two teenage investigators will present research at Scientific Sessions 2005 that could impact the treatment of heart disease.
Scott Casale, 18, of Lancaster, Pa., and Alicia Korpi, 17, of Miller Place, N.Y., will present their findings to more than 30,000 attendees at the American Heart Association’s annual convention -- the world’s largest for scientists, clinicians and healthcare professionals devoted to cardiovascular disease and stroke. This year’s meeting is Nov. 13-16 in Dallas.
The association selected the two high school seniors’ abstracts from about 13,000 submitted for presentation.
“I couldn’t believe that my abstract was selected, but I’m very excited because this is a great opportunity for me, as a high school student, to go to an international meeting and present my findings to the world’s top cardiologists,” said Casale, lead author of a study that focused on the influence of ethnicity and socioeconomic status on the use of primary angioplasty in heart attack patients.
Korpi studied ways to protect the heart from injury while patients undergo heart surgery or angioplasty. “When I began the study, I didn’t know it would have such an impact on the treatment of heart disease,” she said. “I was really excited to find out that my project had meaning and that people twice my age were doing similar research.”
M. Cass Wheeler, CEO of the American Heart Association, said he was “thrilled to have two such bright and productive students presenting their groundbreaking research” at Scientific Sessions.
“Both these students have the potential to discover many important treatments for our nation’s No. 1 killer, cardiovascular disease, and leave their mark as young scientific trailblazers,” he said.
Casale said he became interested in healthcare disparities after participating in a community service project that collected clothing for villagers in Nicaragua. That experience made him realize that healthcare disparities also exist in the United States. Wanting to learn more, he found researchers to work with him, including his mentor, Dr. Richard Devereux of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Devereux helped Casale analyze hospital records of more than 17,000 heart attack patients in Pennsylvania.
Korpi found her mentor, Dr. Irvin Krukenkamp of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, through her high school science research class. Working with Krukenkamp, Korpi attended lab meetings, reviewed relevant published scientific and medical literature and developed her ideas for conducting the research, which involved isolated rabbit hearts.
Korpi’s research will be presented during a poster session on Nov. 13, 9:30-11 a.m. CST. Casale’s research will be featured in a news conference about ethnic and racial disparities in cardiovascular disease care on Nov. 14, noon-1 p.m. CST and in an oral abstract on Nov. 15 at 11:15 a.m. CST. Their studies are embargoed for release until they present at Scientific Sessions.
American Heart Association
CONTACT: For information Nov. 13-16, Jessica Collins, or broadcast, JulieDel Barto, both at the Dallas Convention Center, +1-214-853-8092, or AfterNov. 16, Jessica Collins, +1-202-785-7935, or jessica.collins@heart.org ,both of American Heart Association
Web site: http://www.americanheart.org/
