More than 600,000 cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. each year, and survival rates remain low both in and out of hospital settings, according to the American Heart Association. To address this critical issue, the Association is providing $3.4 million in grants for two teams of scientists to lead a new research initiative focused on scientific advances related to cardiac arrest. These multidisciplinary teams will undertake research studies to better understand how to predict and detect cardiac arrests, with a goal of ultimately improving treatment and survival rates and enhancing recovery and quality of life for survivors and their families.
This new initiative establishes the Cardiac Arrest Research Team (CART) Network, a unique collaboration between the American Heart Association and Heart & Stroke, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The CART Network will bring together teams from both countries to share expertise, resources, and approaches to coordinate the acceleration of scientific discoveries and translate those findings into practice to improve survival and outcomes.
The grants and teams supported by the American Heart Association include the Accelerating Successful Defibrillation and Survivor Recovery for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest team, led by Joshua Lupton, M.D., M.P.H., M.Phil., an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine in Portland, and a cardiac arrest survivor himself. This team will focus on improving care from the moment of emergency treatment through life after leaving the hospital. The researchers will initially look at how emergency responders administer electric shocks with defibrillators to restart a heart after cardiac arrest, including testing the effectiveness of different placements of the defibrillator pads. This study will test whether one pad position helps the heart restart faster. Using information already recorded by emergency heart monitors, they will examine whether artificial intelligence can help improve timing decisions for shocks. Additionally, the team will work with survivors and their families to identify best practices for support and resources following a cardiac arrest, including connections to peer-support programs with other survivors. Finally, this project will help build a shared research network, bringing together hospitals, emergency responders, scientists, and survivors to improve future cardiac arrest care.
The second team, Vasopressor Strategy in Cardiac Arrest to Optimize Recovery-Cardiac Arrest Research Team (VICTORY-CART), will be led by Ari Moskowitz, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, an associate professor of critical care medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, New York. This team will look at ways to improve brain and other organ functions that can be impacted due to very low blood pressure often experienced during a cardiac arrest. Researchers will compare two blood pressure medicines commonly used after cardiac arrest to find out which one helps more people survive and better recover. The study will also establish a learning health system framework for efficiently comparing routinely used therapies, generating real-world evidence that can rapidly inform and improve post–cardiac arrest care.
In addition to the collaboration with scientists from the Canadian teams, these two groups will work closely with people who have lived experience with cardiac arrest, including survivors, family members, and people who lost loved ones. Those voices will bring powerful, real-world insights to advance lifesaving strategies and improve recovery outcomes.
“Cardiac arrest is a profound and tragic occurrence and we know seconds matter in making sure people get the right life-saving treatment at the right time. This initiative is unique and exciting in many ways, from the multinational collaborative to the incorporation of experiences and understandings from people who have been directly impacted,” said Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association. “Funding research to better understand cardiac arrest is a key component of the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care 2030 Impact Goals as we strive to double the survival rate from cardiac arrest within the next five years.”
The four-year research grants will begin on July 1, 2026. The American Heart Association has now funded more than $6.1 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and brain health research since 1949, making it the single largest non-profit, non-government supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S. More than 8 in 10 U.S. adults say they are confident in the American Heart Association to provide trustworthy information related to public health, according to a recent Annenberg Policy Center poll.
