How does a single intriguing patient encounter lead to a clinical research career investigating extreme premature birth history and increased risk of cardiopulmonary complications later in life? In this new episode of Behind the Bench with AJP-Heart and Circ, co-hosts Lisandra de Castro Brás (East Carolina University) and Charlotte Usselman (McGill University) interview Kara Goss (University of Texas Southwestern) about the fascinating study by Corrado et al. Admittedly inspired by her own experience as a mother to two children, both of whom were born prematurely, our producer Kara Hansell Keehan wanted to dig deeper into this latest work by Goss and co-authors. An early inspiration for Goss was her clinical rotation in the NICU, yet she followed a different clinical path into adult critical cardiopulmonary care. It was ultimately a single encounter with an older patient in acute cardiopulmonary distress who had, as Goss uncovered, a preterm birth history, that changed her career path. Thus, a research career was born (pun intended). Why did Goss and co-authors find right ventricular, but not left ventricular, dysfunction in this former preemie adult cohort? Is exercise the key to mitigating the effects of this right ventricular function? This podcast episode is simply fascinating, so listen now.

Philip A. Corrado, Gregory P. Barton, Christopher J. Francois, Oliver Wieben, and Kara N. Goss Sildenafil administration improves right ventricular function on 4D flow MRI in young adults born premature Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published May 20, 2021. DOI: doi.org/ 10.1152/ajpheart.00824.2020