​Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, chair of Preventive Medicine and the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research, and current president of the American Heart Association (AHA), recently testified before Congress on behalf of the AHA in support of legislation that would improve cardiovascular health in the U.S.
​The CAROL Act, sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., would authorize funding for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to conduct research on heart valve diseases like mitral valve prolapse, which is present in approximately two percent of the U.S. population. Mitral valve prolapse occurs when the valve between the heart’s upper and lower chambers on the left side doesn’t seal properly, causing blood to leak backwards into the heart’s left atrium.