USC researchers awarded grant for 3-year cardiac disease study

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBIA — Researchers at the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine and the University of California at San Diego will use a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to collaborate on a three-year study to better understand heart disease.

The scientists will develop computer models that show how different factors, including drug interactions, affect the heart. Part of the study will also examine how changes in electrical activity affect the heart.

The grant is key to the University of South Carolina’s effort to build a new bioengineering program, said professor Tom Borg.

The award follows a $17.5 million federal grant in November to boost bioengineering research at several South Carolina colleges and universities.