The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Nevada Senator Harry Reid announced a five-year, $20.3 million grant awarded to UNLV from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to lead a health research network of 13 universities across the Mountain West. The University of Nevada School of Medicine will partner on the grant.

Dr. R. Clinton Webb, Chairman of the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, is the 2013 recipient of the American Heart Association Council on High Blood Pressure Research's Irvine Page-Alva Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award.

GoDanRiver.com of Danville, Va., reported that a cardiovascular surgeon at Danville Regional Medical Center died in a plane crash Aug. 29.

Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (CHL), a rapidly growing specialty clinical laboratory and cardiovascular disease management company, today announced that its fourth annual symposium, Where Inflammation Meets Lipids®, will focus on unique models and strategies for assessing, treating and preventing chronic disease.

Boston University’s BU Today reported that the 65-year-old Framingham Heart Study will lose $4 million in federal funding under the sequester, forcing the layoffs of 19 staffers in November.  In a video, Boston University biomedical engineer Ahmad S. Khalil, PhD, argues against the cuts on ScienceWorksforUS.org.

Kenneth Bernstein, MD, a Cedars-Sinai pathologist and scientific researcher known for expanding the understanding of a collection of proteins important in controlling blood pressure as well as heart and renal diseases, has been named a 2013 Distinguished Scientist by the American Heart Association.

Bioheart, Inc. (OTCQB: BHRT) announced today that Mike Tomas, the company's President/CEO, has been appointed to serve on Workforce Florida's Board of Directors for a four year term by Florida Governor Rick Scott. Tomas is one of 15 Floridians appointed to the Board of Directors. Workforce Florida is charged with overseeing the state's workforce system and developing strategies that will improve the state's business environment while supporting its economy (www.EmployFlorida.com).

Californian Kerry O’Shea has filed a lawsuit against the American Heart Association (AHA) and Campbell Soup in a federal court in New Jersey under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, taking aim at sodium levels in the Healthy Request brand, according to Bloomberg. The soup labels boast AHA’s “Heart-Check Mark” logo.