AUG. 13, 2003 | Jawahar L. Mehta, M.D., Ph.D., director of cardiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has received the prestigious Albrecht Fleckenstein Memorial Award for identifying a specific gene associated with heart attacks.

Mehta accepted the award for contributions to basic research in cardiology from the International Academy of Cardiology at the Third World Congress on Heart Disease in Washington D.C. He is professor of internal medicine and director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, and the Howard and Elsie Stebbins Chair in Cardiology at UAMS.

An international research team, led by Mehta, identified a cholesterol receptor cell known as the Lecton-like Oxidized (LOX) LDL receptor, and has found a genetic link to the performance of the LOX-1 receptor gene. People with a malfunctioning or abnormal LOX-1 gene appear to be almost three times more likely to suffer heart attack.

Only one Fleckenstein winner is chosen each year by a 15-member nominating committee of the International Academy. He becomes the sixth winner of the award named after the German cardiovascular pathologist best known for discovering the link between calcium and heart disease.

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