Focus On

Tackling the Nation’s Deadliest Disease

“We’re going to get rid of cardiovascular disease as the number one killer of people in this society,” Professor Linda Curtiss proclaims confidently. Having spent the last three-plus decades studying atherosclerosis at Scripps Research, her work has helped fuel a revolution in the field -- shifting the view of atherosclerosis from a fat problem to an inflammation problem.

Milestones in Medical Science

Quest to Improve Transplant Patients’ Lives

“Fifty percent of kidney transplant patients lose their kidneys within ten to twelve years,” explains Dan Salomon, Scripps Research associate professor. Both a gifted researcher and a sensitive bedside physician, Salomon is focused on using the explosion of knowledge uncovered by the Human Genome Project to unlock the mystery of why some patients do better than others after a kidney transplant.

As he advances our basic knowledge of genomics, proteomics, and the genetics of kidney, liver, and islet transplantation, he is touching patients’ lives every step of the way.

Other News

Advances in Heart Disease: Did You Know?

As recently as the 1960s, it was not uncommon for Americans to die from a heart attack in their 50s or 60s. Had this rate continued through to today, 1.6 million American lives would be lost each year to coronary heart disease. Thanks to medical research and advances, though, the toll is less than one-third of that rate.

Of the six years by which American life expectancy increased between 1970 and 2000, four years is due to reductions in cardiovascular disease death. Learn more about improvements in heart health.