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Mount Sinai receives $1.1 million to assess heart, kidney disease in 9/11 responders
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced receipt of a $1.1 million grant from the World Trade Center Health Program in order to evaluate the risk for heart and kidney disease among first responders and volunteers at Ground Zero of the 9/11 attacks.
According to a press release, researchers will focus on the degree and frequency of kidney dysfunction, and assess the relationship between kidney disease and CVD in this population. They hypothesize that exposure to air containing smoke, glass fibers, heavy metals and cement dust during the attacks may have caused inflammation that could, in turn, lead to CV damage and chronic kidney disease.
“We anticipate this new study to have a broad impact on our understanding of the health effects of inhaled particulate matter on kidney and [CV] health,” Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, professor and chair of the department of preventive medicine and overseer of the World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center for Excellence at Mount Sinai, said in the release. The program, administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is dedicated to the treatment and monitoring of residents, workers and emergency responders affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.