Lung Cell Biology is sponsored by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Funds studies on lung cellular function, dysfunction, and disease mechanisms.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) | National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) provides global leadership for a research, training, and education program to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases and enhance the health of all individuals so that they can live longer and more fulfilling lives.

The NHLBI stimulates basic discoveries about the causes of disease, enables the translation of basic discoveries into clinical practice, fosters training and mentoring of emerging scientists and physicians, and communicates research advances to the public.

It creates and supports a robust, collaborative research infrastructure in partnership with private and public organizations, including academic institutions, industry, and other government agencies.

The Institute collaborates with patients, families, health care professionals, scientists, professional societies, patient advocacy groups, community organizations, and the media to promote the application of research results and leverage resources to address public health needs. The NHLBI also collaborates with international organizations to help reduce the burden of heart, lung, and blood diseases worldwide.

Important Events in NHLBI History June 16, 1948 — President Harry S. Truman signed the National Heart Act, creating and establishing the National Heart Institute (NHI) in the Public Health Service (PHS) and the National Advisory Heart Council. August 1, 1948 — Surgeon General Leonard A.

Scheele, by General Circular No. 36, Organization Order No. 14, established the NHI as one of the National Institutes of Health to assume responsibility for heart research, training, and administration as set forth in the National Heart Act. Intramural research projects in cardiovascular diseases and gerontology, conducted elsewhere in NIH, were transferred to the NHI.

The director of the NHI was designated to lead and coordinate the total PHS heart program. September 8, 1948 — The National Advisory Heart Council held its first meeting. Dr. Paul Dudley White served as the Council's Executive Director.

January 1949 — Cooperative research units were established at the University of California, University of Minnesota, Tulane University, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Pending completion of the NHI's own research organization and availability of further research facilities, the units were jointly financed by the NIH and the institutions. July 1, 1949 — The NHI intramural research program was established.

The Heart Disease Epidemiology Study at Framingham, Massachusetts, was transferred from the Bureau of State Services, PHS, to the NHI. July 6, 1953 — The Clinical Center admitted its first patient for heart disease research. July 1, 1957 — The first members of the NHI Board of Scientific Counselors began their terms.

The Board was established in 1956 "to provide advice on matters of general policy, particularly from a long-range viewpoint, as they relate to the intramural research program." February 19, 1959 — The American Heart Association and the NHI presented a report to the Nation on "A Decade of Progress Against Cardiovascular Disease." October 16, 1968 — A Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr. Marshall W.

Nirenberg, chief of the NHI Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics, for discovering the key to deciphering the genetic code. Dr. Nirenberg was the first NIH Nobel laureate and the first Federal employee to receive a Nobel Prize. October 26, 1968 — The NHI received the National Hemophilia Foundation's Research and Scientific Achievement Award for its "medical leadership ...

tremendous stimulation and support of research activities directly related to the study and treatment of hemophilia." November 10, 1969 — The NHI was renamed the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), reflecting expansion of functions. February 18, 1971 — In his Health Message to the Congress, President Richard M.

Nixon identified sickle cell anemia as a high-priority disease target and called for increased Federal expenditures. Subsequently, the Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs assigned the NIH and NHLI as the lead agencies responsible for coordinating a National Sickle Cell Disease Program.

June 12, 1972 — HEW Secretary Elliot Richardson approved a nationwide program of hypertension information and education. The secretary appointed the Hypertension Information and Education Advisory Committee, chaired by the Director of NIH, and the Interagency Working Group, chaired by the Director of the NHLI, to implement the national effort. July 1972 — The NHLI initiated the National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP).

July 14, 1972 — Secretary Richardson approved a reorganization of NHLI, elevating the Institute to Bureau status within the NIH. June 25, 1976 — The NHLI was renamed the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), reflecting an expansion in blood-related activities within the Institute.

November 1979 — The results of the Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program, a clinical trial initiated by the NHLBI in 1971, provided evidence that systematic, aggressive treatment of hypertension saves lives. October 1981 — The NHLBI Beta-Blocker Heart Attack Trial demonstrated benefits to those in the trial who received propranolol compared with the control group.

October 1983 — The NHLBI Coronary Artery Surgery Study results demonstrated that mildly symptomatic patients with coronary artery disease can safely defer coronary artery bypass surgery until symptoms worsen.

January 1984 — The NHLBI Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial established conclusively that reducing total blood cholesterol reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in men at increased risk because of elevated cholesterol levels. Each 1% decrease in cholesterol was shown to reduce heart attack risk by 2%.

April 1985 — Phase I of the NHLBI Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Trial found that the new thrombolytic agent recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is approximately twice as effective as streptokinase in opening thrombosed coronary arteries. October 1985 — NHLBI-supported researchers Michael S. Brown and Joseph L.

Goldstein received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism. November 1985 — The NHLBI initiated the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP).

June 1986 — Results of the NHLBI Prophylactic Penicillin Trial demonstrated the efficacy of prophylactic penicillin in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with pneumococcal infections in children with sickle cell disease. March 1989 — The NHLBI initiated the National Asthma Education Program. The program was later renamed the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP).

September 1990 — Scientists from the NHLBI and the National Cancer Institute began the first gene therapy trial in a human patient, a 4-year-old girl with an inherited immune dysfunction.

January 1991 — The NHLBI developed an Obesity Education Initiative to educate the public and health professionals about obesity as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and its relationship to other risk factors such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. June 1991 — The NHLBI initiated the National Heart Attack Alert Program.

July 1991 — The NHLBI Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program demonstrated that low-dose pharmacologic therapy of isolated systolic hypertension in those over age 60 significantly reduces stroke and myocardial infarction. January 1995 — Results of the NHLBI Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea demonstrated that hydroxyurea reduced the number of painful episodes by 50% in severely affected adults with sickle cell disease.

This is the first effective treatment for adult sickle cell patients. September 1995 — Results of the NHLBI Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation demonstrated that patients on drug treatment for diabetes who had blockages in 2 or more coronary arteries and were treated with coronary artery bypass surgery had, at 5 years, a markedly lower death rate than similar patients treated with angioplasty.

May 1996 — Framingham Heart Study investigators concluded that earlier and more aggressive treatment of hypertension is vital to preventing congestive heart failure. The Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study demonstrated that lifestyle approaches, such as weight loss, a healthy eating plan, and physical activity, are crucial for reducing blood lipids in those treated for Stage I hypertension.

September 1996 — Findings from the NHLBI Asthma Clinical Research Network indicated that inhalation of a beta-agonist at regularly scheduled times is safe for people with asthma but provides no greater benefit than use of the medication only when asthma symptoms occur.

November 1996 — Two studies, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial and the Trial of Nonpharmacologic Intervention in the Elderly, showed that lifestyle changes, such as modifying one's diet and losing weight, substantially reduce blood pressure in adults and eliminate the need for antihypertensive medication in some older patients.

January 1997 — Results from the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth program showed that atherosclerosis develops before age 20 and that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and cigarette smoking affect progression of atherosclerosis equally in women and men regardless of race.

May 1997 — Results from the Antiarrhythmic versus Implantable Defibrillator clinical trial demonstrated that implantable cardiac defibrillators are superior to antiarrhythmic drug therapy for improving overall survival for patients with life-threatening heart arrhythmias. October 1, 1997 — The NHLBI is given responsibility for the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a study begun in 1991 to address chronic diseases in women.

March 1999 — A large clinical trial of mechanical ventilator use for intensive care patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome demonstrated that approximately 25% fewer deaths occurred among patients receiving small, rather than large, breaths of air from a mechanical ventilator. September 2000 — NHLBI-supported investigators identified a gene for primary pulmonary hypertension.

January 2001 — Results of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Sodium Trial showed that dietary sodium reduction substantially lowers blood pressure in persons with high blood pressure; the greatest effect was seen when sodium reduction was combined with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat previously shown to lower blood pressure (i.e., the DASH diet).

April 2001 — The NHLBI released international guidelines for diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). July 2001 — A self-contained artificial heart was implanted in a patient for the first time.

September 2001 — The NHLBI, along with the American Heart Association and other partners, launched a national Act in Time to Heart Attack Signs campaign to increase awareness of the symptoms of heart attack and the need for a fast response. July 2002 — The NHLBI stopped early the trial of estrogen plus progestin component of the WHI due to increased breast cancer risk and lack of overall benefits.

The multicenter trial also found increases in coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism in participants on estrogen plus progestin compared to women taking placebo pills. In 2004, the WHI component evaluating estrogen-alone hormone therapy also was stopped early because the long-term risks of the medications outweighed the long-term benefits.

December 2002 — Results of the NHLBI Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management Trial indicated that a strategy involving rate control rather than rhythm control may be the preferred treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation. The rate control strategy involves the use of less expensive drugs and fewer hospitalizations.

Results from the NHLBI Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), the largest hypertension clinical trial ever conducted, showed that traditional diuretics are at least as good as newer medicines (calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors) to treat high blood pressure and to prevent some forms of heart disease.

These findings were in addition to ALLHAT results from 2000, when researchers reported that an alpha-adrenergic blocker was less effective than the diuretic in reducing risk of some forms of CVD. January 2003 — A study demonstrated that magnetic resonance imaging can detect heart attacks faster and more accurately than traditional methods in patients who arrive at an emergency room with chest pain.

February 2003 — The NHLBI Prevention of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism (PREVENT) trial was stopped because treatment with low-dose warfarin to prevent recurrence of the blood clotting disorders deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism was found to benefit the patients.

May 2003 — The NHLBI National Emphysema Treatment Trial found that lung volume reduction surgery benefits emphysema patients who have certain clinical characteristics. The findings will help determine the Medicare coverage policy for the surgery. July 2003 — The NHLBI and Gen-Probe Corporation developed a test to screen donated blood for the West Nile virus.

March 2004 — Preliminary results of the NHLBI Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure study demonstrated that an implantable cardiac defibrillator can reduce the risk of death from arrhythmia for heart failure patients. August 2004 — The NHBPEP Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents released The Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents.

An NHLBI-funded study showed that nucleic acid-amplification testing for HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus further safeguards the nation's blood supply. October 2004 — Researchers participating in the NHLBI Asthma Clinical Research Network demonstrated that genetic differences affect how adult patients with mild asthma respond, over time, to daily doses of inhaled albuterol (a drug used for relief of acute asthma symptoms).

November 2004 — Results of the NHLBI Prevention of Events with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition study demonstrated that many coronary heart disease patients who were receiving state-of-the art therapy do not gain extra cardiovascular protection from ACE inhibitors.

December 2004 — The NHLBI Stroke Prevention Trial II showed that children with sickle cell disease who receive transfusions to prevent stroke revert to high risk for stroke when transfusions are stopped. STOP II was initiated after an earlier trial demonstrated that periodic red blood cell transfusions reduce the stroke rate by 90% among high-risk children with sickle cell disease.

January 2005 — The NHLBI issued new guidelines for managing asthma during pregnancy. February 2005 — NHLBI-supported scientists identified 2 genetic mutations common in individuals of African descent that are associated with a 40% reduction in LDL cholesterol.

February 2006 — Results from the WHI Calcium and Vitamin D trial showed that calcium and vitamin D supplements in healthy postmenopausal women provide a modest improvement in bone mass preservation and prevent hip fractures in certain groups including older women but do not prevent other types of fractures or colorectal cancer.

May 2006 — Results from the Childhood Asthma Research and Education Network showed that daily treatment with inhaled corticosteroids can reduce breathing problems in pre-school-aged children at high risk for asthma, but does not prevent them from developing persistent asthma.

The Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis II found that the ability to diagnose pulmonary embolism is improved when a commonly used imaging test of the chest to detect potentially deadly blood clots in the lung is complemented by an extension of the scan to the legs — where the clots typically originate — or by a standard clinical assessment.

June 2006 — The Should We Emergently Revascularize Occluded Coronaries for Cardiogenic Shock (SHOCK) trial showed that treating heart attack patients who have a life-threatening complication called cardiogenic shock with emergency angioplasty or bypass surgery greatly improves their long-term survival. Improved short-term survival was reported in 1999.

July 2006 — NHLBI scientists found that a hormone called brain natriuretic peptide — or BNP, which can be detected in a simple blood test — can identify patients with sickle cell disease who have developed a life-threatening complication called pulmonary hypertension. The hormone is also a predictor of death in adult sickle cell patients.

Results from 2 randomized clinical trials demonstrated that inhaled nitric oxide administered within the first few weeks of life helps prevent chronic lung disease in some low birthweight premature infants. Moreover, when administered within 48 hours after birth, it appears to protect some premature newborns from brain injury.

September 2006 — The NHLBI launched a peripheral arterial disease (PAD) awareness and education campaign entitled Stay in Circulation... Take Steps to Learn about P. A.

D. January 2007 — The NHLBI launched the Learn More Breathe Better campaign to increase COPD awareness among primary care physicians and the public. View Image .

August 2007 — The NAEPP issued the Expert Panel Report 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma — Full Report 2007 , an update of the latest scientific evidence and recommendations for clinical practice on asthma care.

October 2007 — NHLBI-supported researchers Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their creation of a gene-targeting technique that allows scientists to create mice that are genetically modified to develop human diseases.

January 2008 — Results from the ALLHAT study demonstrated that in people with high blood pressure as part of metabolic syndrome, diuretics offer greater protection against cardiovascular disease and are at least as effective for lowering blood pressure as newer, more expensive medications.

February 2008 — The NHLBI stopped one treatment arm of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial of adults with type 2 diabetes at high risk of heart attack and stroke after a review of available data showed that participants following a medical strategy to lower blood glucose below current recommendations to near-normal levels had an increased the risk of death compared with those receiving the standard treatment strategy.

The NHLBI issued the first U.S. guidelines for the diagnosis and management of von Willebrand Disease, the most common inherited bleeding disorder. March 2008 — The WHI Follow-up Study confirmed that the health risks of long-term combination hormone therapy outweigh the benefits for postmenopausal women.

Researchers reported that about 3 years after women stopped taking combination hormone therapy, many of the health effects of hormones such as increased risk of heart disease are diminished, but overall risks of stroke, blood clots, and cancer remain high.

April 2008 — Results from Stop Atherosclerosis in Native Diabetic Study (SANDS) showed that aggressively lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels below current targets in adults with type 2 diabetes may help to prevent, and possibly reverse, hardening of the arteries .

August 2008 — The NHLBI launched an educational Web site “Children and Clinical Studies,” which features documentary videos, text, and graphics designed to promote a better understanding of research in children for health care professionals and the public.

December 2008 — The NHLBI expanded its open-access dataset of genetic and clinical data to include information collected from three NHLBI-funded asthma research networks: CAMP, CARE, and ACRN. Researchers identified a gene that directly affects the production of a form of hemoglobin that is instrumental in modifying the severity of SCD and thalassemia.

March 2009 — Results from the STICH trial showed that surgery to reshape the scarred left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart, often performed in conjunction with coronary bypass surgery, failed to reduce deaths and hospitalizations in heart failure patients and did not improve quality of life compared to bypass alone.

June 2009 — Results from the BARI 2D study in patients with diabetes and stable coronary artery disease indicated that while revascularization can be delayed for many patients receiving optimal medical therapy, patients with extensive coronary artery disease do better with prompt bypass surgery than with medical therapy alone.

The NHLBI joined with UnitedHealth Group's Chronic Disease Initiative to launch a worldwide network of research and training centers to build institutional and community capacity to prevent and control chronic diseases globally. August 2009. Results from the NHLBI Sleep Heart Health Study showed that moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of death in middle-aged adults, especially men.

October 2009 — The Division of Cardiovascular Sciences was created by combining two previously existing divisions, the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences, so that the administrative structure better matched the dynamic interaction that exists among basic, clinical, and population sciences.

December 2009 — NHLBI funded scientists, using a modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen, reversed SCD in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease.

May 2010 — The NHLBI launched the National Asthma Control Initiative to improve asthma control in patients by bringing asthma care in line with evidence-based recommendations from the Expert Panel Report 3 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma and its companion document, Guidelines Implementation Panel Report Partners Putting Guidelines Into Action.

October 2010 — Follow-up findings from the NHLBI WHI study of hormone therapy in postmenopausal women showed that, in addition to having a higher incidence of breast cancer, the group treated with estrogen plus progestin had nearly double the rate of mortality from breast cancer than the placebo group 5 years after the study drug was discontinued.

April 2011 — Results from the NHLBI STICH study showed that adding bypass surgery to medical therapy for selected patients with chronic heart failure reduced the combination of deaths and heart-related hospital stays compared with medical therapy alone.

May 2011 — Results from the NHLBI Pediatric Hydroxyurea Phase III Clinical Trial (Baby HUG) showed that hydroxyurea appears to be safe for treating SCD in children aged 8-19 months, and can reduce their pain episodes and improve key blood measurements.

August 2011 — Results from the NHLBI COPD Clinical Research Network showed that adding a common antibiotic to the usual daily treatment regimen for COPD reduced the occurrence of acute exacerbations and improved the quality of life of patients.

October 2011 — Research supported in part by the NHLBI demonstrated that silencing the gene that produces the protein BCL11A can reactivate fetal hemoglobin production in adult mice bred to have SCD. The discovery presented a new target for future therapies for people with SCD. October 17, 2011 — The NHLBI launched the National Program to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk, a public-private partnership to improve control of CVD risk factors.

October 2011 — A rigorous clinical trial of therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis conducted through the NHLBI Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network revealed that a commonly used three-drug regimen — prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine — may actually be harmful.

The evaluation of the combination therapy was halted ahead of schedule in October 2011 when interim results showed that patients who received it had worse outcomes than those given a placebo.

November 2011 — The National Center on Sleep Disorders Research released the 2011 NIH Sleep Disorders Research Plan that identifies research opportunities to be pursued over the next 3 to 5 years in order to spur new approaches to prevent and treat sleep disorders and sleep deficiency. December 2011 — The NHLBI released Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents: The Report of the Expert Panel .

February 2012 — A detailed exploration of the coding and non-coding regions of selected DNA sequences found rare variants of genes that play a role in asthma susceptibility in people of different backgrounds, specifically African American and European American. The results may ultimately be useful in identifying people at risk for developing asthma.

March 2012 — An NHLBI comparative effectiveness study shows that older patients with stable CHD who undergo bypass surgery have better long-term survival rates than those who undergo a nonsurgical procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention to improve blood flow to the heart muscle. April 5, 2012 — Dr. Gary Gibbons was appointed Director of the NHLBI. He succeeded Dr. Elizabeth Nabel.

June 18, 2012 — The NHLBI launched the National Blood Disorders Program, a public-private partnership to improve the management of sickle cell disease July 2012 — Results of the NHLBI Rule Out Myocardial Infarction Using Computed Assisted Tomography study showed that, in an emergency department setting and among patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndromes, incorporating computed tomography scans to standard screening procedures allows hospitals to send many patients with chest pain home sooner without compromising their safety.

An early-phase study at the NIH Clinical Center showed that eltrombopag, a drug that was designed to stimulate production of platelets from the bone marrow and thereby improve blood clotting, can raise blood cell levels in some people with severe aplastic anemia who have failed to benefit from standard therapies.

Eltrombopag was approved by the FDA in August 2016 for patients with severe aplastic anemia who have not responded well to immunosuppressive therapy. August 2012 — Research based on work from the Framingham Heart Study showed that individuals with elevated levels of galectin 3, a marker of cardiac fibrosis, have an increased risk for heart failure and mortality.

A pilot study showed thatheart catheter procedures guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are as safe as those guided by X-ray and take no more time. These findings suggest that real-time MRI-guided catheterization could be a radiation-free alternative to certain X-ray-guided procedures.

April 25, 2013 — New NHLBI research helped explain why consumption of red meat leads to increased risk of heart disease by clogging arteries (atherosclerosis). Bacteria in the digestive tract metabolizes the compound carnitine, found in red meat and also a popular supplement, leading to the production of a compound called trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) that is linked to the development of atherosclerosis.

June 6, 2013 — Using data from the Framingham Heart Study researchers found that a polymorphism in the MUC5B gene is associated with interstitial lung disease, a broad set of conditions characterized by progressive lung scarring and declining lung function. July 2013 — NHLBI-funded scientists at Duke University succeeded in producing human heart tissue in vitro.

Having the ability to engineer heart muscle brings scientists closer to developing cell-based cardiac therapies and drug screening for patients with heart disease. July 2013 — NHLBI-funded researchers effectively reversed pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a rat model using inhalable gene therapy to deliver a gene for an enzyme called SERCA2a.

As a result, SERCA2a levels increased and lung function was restored, suggesting a potential therapy for PAH, a progressive, potentially fatal disorder that affects about 150,000 people in the United States each year.

August 2013 — New NHLBI-funded research has found that higher plasma levels of the biomarker Suppressor of Tumorigenicity 2 (ST2) are associated with resistance to treatment for graft versus host disease (GVHD) following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and a four times greater likelihood of death within 6 months.

The development of diagnostics to predict the emergence of GVHD as well as resistance to steroid therapy for the disease has the potential to significantly impact the early detection and treatment of GVHD resulting in improved outcome to HSCT. October 2013 — NHLBI supported researchers analyzed long-term data from two clinical trials in children with sickle cell disease.

In the first study, researchers looking at data from the BABY HUG trial found that administrating hydroxurea therapy to infants and toddlers with sickle cell anemia reduced hospitalization and cut medical costs. In the second study, researchers compared deaths due to ischemic stroke (a complication of sickle cell disease) in black children versus white children over a 20-year period between 1988 and 2007.

The researchers believe that publication of the STOP trial results in 1998 that demonstrated the efficacy of long-term blood transfusions for primary stroke prevention led to an increase in blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease and thereby reduced the number of blacks suffering from ischemic stroke.

November 12, 2013 — As part of a new collaborative partnership model to develop new cardiovascular disease clinical guidelines, NHLBI provided completed rigorous, evidentiary reviews to the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and other professional societies. The new partnership model led to the rapid publication of four key guidelines for lifestyle, risk assessment, cholesterol, and overweight and obesity.

January 23, 2014 — NHLBI established The Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science (CTRIS) to serve as a strategic focal point for “T4” translation research and implementation science for NHLBI, addressing both domestic and global health inequities in collaboration with other agencies and organizations.

T4 research happens after clinical trials determine how individual patients will benefit from particular interventions and or treatments. The research tackles questions about how and in what contexts these treatments should be used and how to ensure they are used. NHLBI Legislative Chronology June 16, 1948 — The National Heart Act (Public Law 80-655) authorized NHI.

The act's purpose was "To improve the health of the people of the United States through the conduct of researches, investigations, experiments, and demonstrations relating to the cause, prevention, and method of diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the heart and circulation; assist and foster such researches and other activities by public and private agencies, and promote the coordination of all such researches and activities and the useful application of their results; provide training in matters relating to heart diseases, including refresher courses for physicians; and develop, and assist States and other agencies in use of the most effective methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart diseases."

December 30, 1963 — House Joint Resolution 848 (P. L. 88-254) authorized and requested the President to issue an annual proclamation designating February as American Heart Month, inviting governors of states and territories to issue similar proclamations.

May 16, 1972 — The National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act (P. L. 92-294) established a national program for diagnosis, control, and treatment of and research in sickle cell anemia.

The act did not mention NHLI but had special pertinence because NHLI was designated to coordinate the National Sickle Cell Disease Program. September 19, 1972 — The National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Act of 1972 (P. L.

92-423) enlarged institute authority to advance the national attack on heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases. The act provided for expanded, intensified, and coordinated institute activities in accordance with a comprehensive, specified National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Disease Program to be planned by the director and the Advisory Council.

It also called for establishment of prevention and control programs; development of 15 new centers for basic and clinical research, training, demonstration, and prevention programs for heart, blood vessel, and blood diseases; and development of 15 such centers for chronic lung diseases. June 25, 1976 — Title I of the Health Research and Health Services Amendments of 1976 (P. L.

94-278) redesignated NHLI as NHLBI to advance the national attack on heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases, and to conduct research in