Featured Discoveries

Genetics of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Solving the mystery of sudden cardiac arrest in the young and healthy

When a young mother and former Division 1 athlete has a sudden cardiac arrest at age 27, Ohio State's heart team investigate the underlying cause

By Melissa Weber, Contributing Writer School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences

Heart patient Shayna Hemming sitting on the floor in her living room playing with her two kids and husbandShayna (Harmon) Hemming was an outstanding athlete in high school, lettering in basketball and softball. A 2016 graduate of Teays Valley High School, south of Columbus, Ohio, Hemming holds the record for the most points scored in basketball for any player in Pickaway County. She attended the University of Akron on a Division 1 basketball scholarship, and by November 2024, Hemming was busy living her dream. After graduating from college, she returned to her hometown and married her high school sweetheart. Two healthy children followed.

And then, an unexpected sudden sudden cardiac arrest at age 27 changed everything Hemming thought she knew about her own body.

The day before her emergency, she remembers, they were enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at her parents’ house just two streets away from where she and her husband live. She remembers taking her son back to the house later that night for more pie. But after that, she only knows what her family has told her about the next morning and the critical days that followed.

Around 4 a.m., her 2-year-old son Greyson came to his parent’s bedroom. Shayna told him to lay down, and minutes later, Trevor Hemming heard Shayna struggling to breathe. Unable to wake her, he felt for a pulse but couldn’t find one.

“Greyson and Trevor are my heroes,” Hemming says.

While Trevor kept Shayna alive with CPR, he called 911 and contacted Shayna’s parents. They rushed to the house and cared for Greyson and 5-month-old daughter Callen while paramedics arrived. Hemming’s father posted a message to friends and family on Facebook: “Please pray for our family.”

Later, people would tell Hemming they prayed not knowing who was ill. “They said, ‘Well it can’t be Shayna. She’s the healthy one,’” she recalls. “It was a shock to everyone.”

After Hemming was stabilized by paramedics, she was rushed to a nearby hospital and then transferred to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital.

There, cardiologists and other specialists assembled to seek one answer: Why does a young, healthy person like Hemming have a cardiac arrest?

Read the full article here

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Vasculogenic tissue nanotransfection accelerates functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury

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This study developed a nonviral gene-delivery approach called vasculogenic tissue nanotransfection (TNT) to improve recovery after peripheral nerve injury. By delivering a combination of vasculogenic transcription factors (Etv2, Fli1, and Foxc2), TNT reprogrammed local cells to promote blood vessel formation, creating a more supportive environment for nerve regeneration. In mouse models of nerve injury and nerve graft repair, TNT treatment increased vascularization, enhanced axonal regrowth and myelination, and significantly improved functional outcomes such as grip strength and muscle contractility. These findings suggest that vasculogenic TNT could serve as a clinically translatable adjunct therapy to enhance nerve repair and functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury.

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