Scott Lowell Hummel MD

Dr. Hummel is a board-certified Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant cardiologist at the University of Michigan and is the heart failure Program Director at the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Health System. His K23-award funded research aims to clarify the underlying pathophysiology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF), a highly morbid condition affecting millions of Americans that is currently without evidence-based therapy. Multiple ‘salt-sensitive’ HFPEF animal models develop oxidative stress and perivascular inflammation under high-sodium intake conditions that lead to cardiorenal and vascular fibrosis and dysfunction.

Dr. Hummel’s recent work suggests that the sodium-restricted Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH/SRD) diet reduces oxidative stress and Obesity and metabolic syndrome in human HFPEF. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are key risk factors for the development of HFPEF, and Dr. Hummel’s future work will seek to clarify links between dietary patterns, inflammation/oxidative stress, and cardiovascular damage in these HFPEF ‘precursor’ populations.