It is composed equally of North American and European members, who are experts in cardiology, cardiac surgery, and neurovascular medicine.
Beginning in 2021 the Leducq Foundation has made an ongoing commitment to supporting research in rheumatic heart disease, a significant unmet medical need, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Jean Leducq was a French entrepreneur who over the course of 50 years built a successful international linen supply business in Europe (ELIS) and North America (RUS).
The Initial grants were awarded to research investigators from North American and Europe, the two continents where the Leducqs had lived and worked.
Recently, Leducq researchers have played prominent roles in developing the use of stem cells for modeling human diseases,[3] understanding the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis,[4][5] advancing knowledge of renal physiology in hypertension,[6] shedding insights into mechanisms of intracellular cholesterol transport,[7] and elucidating mechanisms of cerebral small vessel disease.
[8] Leducq investigators have also identified Calcium Calmodulin Kinase II as a critical node in signaling pathways in atrial fibrillation and heart failure,[9][10] provided new models of mitral valve disease,[11] and implicated inflammation in post-stroke cognitive decline.