Major Research Breakthroughs/Discoveries achieved by Team at the Congenital Heart Disease Genetics Research Program, (the directors of Congenital Heart Disease Genetics Research Program at the Children Heart Center at AUBMC), Drs. Fadi Bitar and Georges Nemer, were reported.
These include:2001: Reported a novel treatment for Rheumatic fever utilizing intravenous gamma globulin, the
first report of its kind worldwide.
2003: Since its establishment in 2003, the program has received more than 25 national and international research grants, including the Dubai-Harvard Foundation Collaborative Research Award.
2006: The discovery of a novel mutation in the GATA4 gene in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, a common form of Congenital Heart Disease; Discovery was reported worldwide.
2012: The discovery of the role of “NFATCI” gene which causes defects in the human heart valves; the first such discovery in the field, This was reported during the Beirut International Congress of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology, held in 2012 at AUB. Beirut International Congress. Al Safir Article 2012.For more info about researches and advance at the CHC, please visit the CHDGP website: www.chdgp.org