North Carolina Central Associate Professor Dayami Lopez, Ph.D., was awarded a $1.48 million grant from the National Institute for General Medical Sciences to study new means of treating high cholesterol and preventing heart disease.
The four-year grant will advance Lopez’s research into regulation of low-density lipoproteins, also known as LDL cholesterol, considered a major risk factor in heart disease.
Heart disease causes about a quarter of all deaths each year,” Lopez said. “It occurs because of a combination of genetic mutations and environmental factors, including lack of exercise and too much fat in the diet.”
Statins, a class of medicines known to block cholesterol production in the liver, are widely used to treat patients with high LDL. However, not all patients respond well to statins. Some have serious side effects, and others, including those with a genetic marker for high cholesterol, fail to improve.
Originally published Nov. 14, 2019.