DORBALA LABORATORY

Amyloidosis results from misfolded proteins depositing as amyloid fibrils in the heart and various organs. Amyloidosis causes a cardiomyopathy with substantial morbidity and mortality. Although, once considered rare, we now recognize transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy to be vastly underdiagnosed, particularly in older adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Light chain amyloidosis is a rare disease and when it affects heart causes a serious form of heart disease which requires urgent therapy. Notably, severe effective therapies are available and several more are emerging for the treatment of amyloidosis and amyloid cardiomyopathy.

Our laboratory uses deep phenotyping with multimodality imaging, biomarkers, microbiota to discover and understand the mechanisms of heart failure in amyloidosis. Our work includes echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac single photon emission computed tomography, positron emission tomography to phenotype amyloidosis from early to advanced stages and to guide therapy. We have pioneered the use of several novel radiotracers and novel cardiac MRI sequences to image and quantify cardiac amyloid burden. Our team is developing novel therapeutic adjuncts to improve outcomes of amyloid cardiomyopathy including sonotherapy, and exercise training.

We perform single center and multicenter studies, as well as large epidemiological studies, ARIC and MESA. We collaborate with colleagues across the globe and perform global collaborative research studies, iCOS, including in low- and middle-income countries. Our work is possible through support of various funding mechanisms and collaborations with physicians and scientists across the world. Dr. Dorbala is also the Director of Nuclear Cardiology at BWH and the Director of Research at the BWH Amyloidosis Program.

Dorbala S, Cuddy S, Falk RH. How to Image Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Practical Approach. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2020 Jun;13(6):1368-1383. PMID: 31607664; PMC7148180.