U.S. funds grant for wine/health study

Wines & Vines, June, 2004 by Elisabeth Holmgren

This is a fundamental effort that will be supported by the research, education and policy communities alike. Over the months and years to come, UAB will be one of the leading scientific resources on wine, alcohol and cardiovascular health. Its government funded data will be communicated in the most credible and responsible ways to research and policy communities worldwide. To learn more about the UAB research program and planned new center for education and other related program activities, please contact Dr. Francois M. Booyse at booyse@uab.edu. For further information, visit the Web site uab.edu/news.

RELATED ARTICLE: What The Researchers Say

"This is the first major programmatic effort to be recognized and funded by the NHLBI that will focus specifically on the molecular mechanisms underlying the health-related benefits of moderate alcohol/wine consumption. It represents the first major consensus by both scientific and health professionals of the emerging importance of the scientific implications, issues and unanswered questions remaining in the rapidly evolving area of wine and cardiovascular health." Francois Booyse, PhD. UAB press statement, 2003.

"In combination, these multiple alcohol-or red wine component-induced changes will be expected to provide significant overall cardiovascular disease protection by decreasing the early initiation of thrombosis, atherogenesis and the atherothrombotic consequences of myocardial infarction, thus reducing the eventual overall risk for CHD-related mortality." F. Booyse and D. Parks, Moderate Wine and Alcohol Consumption: Beneficial Effects on Cardiovascular Disease, Thrombosis and Homeostasis, 2002.

"In concert, results gleaned from these combined multidisciplinary studies, under the auspices of this program project grant, will provide significant new insights into our overall understanding of the potential, importance and role of these diverse molecular regulatory mechanisms that may be mechanistically linked to the cardiovascular disease protective benefits attributed to moderate alcohol and red wine consumption." F. Booyse, NHLBI Application, 2003.

(Elisabeth Holmgren is director of U.S. operations for UK-based Alcohol in Moderation (AIM). She may be reached at edit@winesandvines.com.)