The American Heart Association announced on June 29, 2026, that it is providing $3.4 million in grants to two teams of scientists to lead a new research initiative focused on cardiac arrest. More than 600,000 cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. each year, with low survival rates both in and out of hospital settings, according to the Association. The goal is to better understand how to predict and detect cardiac arrests, ultimately improving treatment and survival rates, as well as recovery and quality of life for survivors and their families.
This initiative establishes the Cardiac Arrest Research Team (CART) Network, a 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 and resources to accelerate scientific discoveries and translate findings into practice.
One grant supports the team "Accelerating Successful Defibrillation and Survivor Recovery for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest," 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, who is also a cardiac arrest survivor. The team will focus on improving care from emergency treatment through life after hospital discharge. They will study how emergency responders administer electric shocks with defibrillators, testing different pad placements to see if one position helps the heart restart faster. Additionally, they will use AI to analyze whether varying the timing between shocks improves survival. The team will also work with survivors and families to identify best practices for support, including peer-support programs.
The second grant funds the "Vasopressor Strategy in Cardiac Arrest to Optimize Recovery-Cardiac Arrest Research Team (VICTORY-CART)," 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 New York. This team will compare two blood pressure medicines commonly used after cardiac arrest to determine which leads to better survival and recovery. They will also establish a learning health system framework to efficiently compare routinely used therapies, generating real-world evidence to improve post–cardiac arrest care.
Both teams will collaborate with individuals who have lived experience with cardiac arrest, including survivors and family members. Stacey E. Rosen, M.D., FAHA, volunteer president of the American Heart Association, emphasized the importance of the initiative, stating, "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." The four-year research grants begin July 1, 2026.
The American Heart Association has funded more than $6.1 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and brain health research since 1949, making it the largest non-profit supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S. A recent Annenberg Policy Center poll found that more than 8 in 10 U.S. adults are confident in the Association to provide trustworthy public health information.
