Karen Ocorr, PhD, assistant professor in the Development, Aging, and Regeneration Program, has devoted her research to understanding the basic cellular mechanisms that contribute to heart disease. People with heart disease have a high risk of developing kidney failure and vice versa, but the connections linking kidney failure and heart failure are not clear. In a new paper published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, her research team identified a protein called SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine) that helps explain how kidney disease might increase the risk of heart failure.  Continue reading “Research SPARCs a new kidney-heart connection”