The American Heart Association is providing $3.4 million in grants to two research teams to lead a new initiative focused on improving outcomes for cardiac arrest, a condition that affects more than 600,000 people in the U.S. each year. The grants establish the Cardiac Arrest Research Team (CART) Network, a collaboration between the American Heart Association and Heart & Stroke, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The initiative aims to bring together multidisciplinary teams from both countries to accelerate scientific discoveries and translate findings into practice.
One grant supports a team led by Joshua Lupton, M.D., M.P.H., M.Phil., an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and a cardiac arrest survivor himself. The team will focus on improving care from the moment of emergency treatment through post-hospital recovery. Their research will examine how emergency responders administer electric shocks with defibrillators, testing the effectiveness of different pad placements to restart the heart faster. They will also use artificial intelligence to analyze timing between shocks, aiming to improve survival. Additionally, the team will work with survivors and families to identify best practices for support resources, including peer-support programs. This project aims to build a shared research network involving hospitals, emergency responders, scientists, and survivors.
The second grant supports a team led by Ari Moskowitz, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, an associate professor of critical care medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System in New York. The team will compare two blood pressure medicines commonly used after cardiac arrest to determine which improves survival and recovery of brain and other organ functions. The research will examine how these medicines are currently used in different hospital settings and among clinicians, aiming to identify ways to ensure more effective and consistent treatment. The study will establish a learning health system framework for efficiently comparing routinely used therapies, generating real-world evidence to improve post–cardiac arrest care.
Both teams will collaborate with Canadian scientists and incorporate insights from people with lived experience of cardiac arrest, including survivors, family members, and those who lost loved ones. Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, emphasized the importance of seconds in cardiac arrest treatment and the unique multinational collaborative nature of the initiative. The grants are part of the Association's Emergency Cardiovascular Care 2030 Impact Goals, which aim to double the survival rate from cardiac arrest within five years.
The four-year research grants begin July 1, 2026. The American Heart Association has funded more than $6.1 billion in cardiovascular research since 1949, making it the largest non-profit, non-government supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S. According to a recent Annenberg Policy Center poll, more than 8 in 10 U.S. adults trust the American Heart Association for reliable health information.
