GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded Michigan physician-scientist Dr. Anthony Rosenzweig $1 million to continue his five-year research project on how exercise can heal heart muscle and brain tissue following a heart attack or stroke.

“Recently, we found that exercise dramatically enhances the birth of new heart muscle cells in the adult heart, and prior work by other groups demonstrated a similar effect of exercise in the adult brain,” Rosenzweig said. “We need to better understand the mechanisms responsible. Understanding how exercise does this and learning whether these insights can be used therapeutically could lead to new approaches promoting recovery after heart attack and stroke.”

MORE NEWS: Crews Clean Up Styrofoam Along Lake Superior

The grant is one of two annual Merit Awards offered by the AHA. The program is designed to support highly promising, novel research that has the potential to move cardiovascular science forward quickly, with high impact.

“The Merit Award program is a way to recognize and support researchers who offer innovative insight and approaches to address emerging challenges in the treatment of cardiovascular disease,” said volunteer president of the AHA, Dr. Michelle A. Albert. “I was honored to be a 2018 recipient of this award, and it offered me an exceptional opportunity to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. I’m confident this year’s recipients will bring forward transformative science in our fight against heart disease and stroke.”

Last year, Rosenzweig became the first director of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Heart and Brain Health, which was created to research the root causes of heart and brain disease and develop better prevention strategies and treatments.

“We are very excited to receive this award which will allow us to explore research in both heart and brain diseases,” Rosenzweig said.