The Lipid Center of Excellence

The Division of Lipid Research and Atherosclerosis is working to fund a center of excellence in lipid disorders in families, which will focus on the diagnosis, research and treatment of families with lipid disorders — in particular those patients and families with histories of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity and diabetes. It will integrate research, patient care and training in this specialty, with the goal of finding better ways to treat patients and of training a cohort of future researcher/physicians to advance this important work.

Funding and establishing an endowed center of excellence at Johns Hopkins requires a philanthropic gift or gifts totaling $5 million. Annual allowable income from the endowment will allow the new Lipid Center to expand the mission of the current Lipid Clinic by seeing patients and families suffering from a variety of lipid-related disorders, delving into new areas of scientific inquiry and increasing faculty and staff. Specifically the center director would be able to:

• Recruit and retain bright, young M.D., Ph.D. faculty — specifically, a molecular biologist and a protein biochemist to elucidate the fundamental basis of elevated HDL disorders and other lipid disorders
• Support highly original, innovative research on inherited lipid disorders that would not otherwise be funded through traditional sources like National Institutes of Health
• Provide support for researchers from other disciplines to work on projects within the Lipid Center
• Purchase technical support and equipment, such as a machine that removes bad cholesterol from patients with sky-high cholesterol levels and early cardiovascular disease
• Increase the number of patients and the scope of the program to include all diseases associated with elevated lipids, especially adolescents with obesity and metabolic syndrome

In the past, researchers focused on finding treatments and cures for diseases after onset or diagnosis. Building on the legacy of discovery at Johns Hopkins, we want to decipher genetic information in order to prevent cardiovascular diseasefrom even occurring by “turning off” bad risk genes or “turning on” good genes. Establishing a new endowed center of excellence in lipid disorders in families can bring this vision within the realm of possibility.