Sathya Velmurugan, PhD, assistant professor in the division of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, has received an American Heart Association Rapid Impact Research Award.
The American Heart Association (AHA) continuously seeks innovative ideas to address the most pressing issues impacting cardiovascular and brain health. The Rapid Impact Research Award program supports early and mid-career investigators proposing innovative research that aligns with the AHA’s mission. Novel basic, clinical, and/or population health proposals are invited in the following three priority areas of research:
- Sudden cardiac arrest/resuscitation science
- Cardiovascular Kidney Metabolic Syndrome
- Stroke and/or vascular dementia
Dr. Velmurugan’s project focuses specifically on sudden cardiac death (SCD), which remains a leading cause of mortality in individuals with diabetes. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes markedly increase SCD risk, and recent epidemiological data identify hypoglycemia as a prevalent and underappreciated contributor. However, the mechanisms linking recurrent hypoglycemia (RH) to lethal arrhythmias are poorly understood.
With support from this American Heart Association Rapid Impact Research Award, Dr. Velmurugan plans to investigate how recurrent hypoglycemia contributes to cardiac electrical instability and increases the risk of SCD in diabetes. Although intensive glycemic control is essential for many patients with diabetes, repeated episodes of hypoglycemia may impose significant stress on the heart, particularly at the level of mitochondrial bioenergetics and stress signaling.
This project will focus on the role of β2-adrenergic signaling in modulating mitochondrial stress responses in the diabetic heart. Using diabetic animal models exposed to recurrent hypoglycemia, Dr. Velmurugan’s team will assess cardiac electrophysiology, autonomic regulation, mitochondrial function, and molecular stress pathways. The goal is to determine whether β2-adrenergic activation can preserve mitochondrial function, reduce maladaptive stress signaling, and protect against hypoglycemia-associated arrhythmogenic remodeling.
“By the end of this grant period, I hope to define a mechanistic link between recurrent hypoglycemia, mitochondrial stress signaling, and sudden cardiac death risk in diabetes,” says Dr. Velmurugan. “Specifically, this work aims to identify whether β2-adrenergic modulation represents a protective pathway that can stabilize mitochondrial function and reduce cardiac electrical vulnerability after repeated hypoglycemic episodes.”
The broader significance of this project is that hypoglycemia remains a major clinical challenge in diabetes management, especially among patients receiving insulin therapy. While hypoglycemia is often viewed as an acute metabolic event, its repeated occurrence may have lasting effects on the cardiovascular system. Understanding these mechanisms could help identify new therapeutic targets and biomarkers to reduce arrhythmia risk and improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes.
Receiving the American Heart Association Rapid Impact Research Award is a tremendous honor and an important validation of the clinical relevance of this research. This award provides critical support to study an urgent and underrecognized problem: how recurrent hypoglycemia may contribute to SCD in diabetes through mitochondrial and electrophysiologic mechanisms.
“For me, this award represents both scientific encouragement and career momentum,” says Dr. Velumurugan. “It supports my long-term goal of developing an independent research program focused on diabetes-related cardiovascular injury, mitochondrial stress biology, and translational strategies to prevent life-threatening cardiac complications. I am especially grateful that the American Heart Association recognizes the need to address cardiovascular risk in diabetes beyond traditional glucose-centered outcomes.”
This work was supported by American Heart Association grant #26RIRA1642793/Sathya Velmurugan/2026.