Leanne Dumeny, a graduate student completing her Ph.D. training in the UF College of Pharmacy, has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Predoctoral Fellowship to promote diversity in health-related research. The one-year award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute will fund Dumeny’s dissertation research to identify clinical and genetic predictors of response to the drug spironolactone in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction. Heart failure occurs when the heart chamber is not able to fill properly with blood and a reduced blood supply is pumped out to the body. The subtype, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, is growing in prevalence, affecting an estimate of three million Americans.
“With limited evidence-based treatments available, there is a pressing need to improve the management of heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction,” Dumeny said. “The results of this study could inform more personalized therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular patients.”
Dumeny credits her mentors and the training program at UF for helping her secure the fellowship award. She is mentored by Larisa Cavallari, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCP, an associate professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research, and Julie Duarte, Pharm.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmacotherapy and translational research.