STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A $464,502 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been awarded to Tarleton State University Mathematics Professor Dr. Bryant Wyatt to study the underlying causes of atrial fibrillation (AF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death worldwide. Irregular heart rhythms, called atrial arrhythmias, often lead to stroke, heart failure and sometimes heart attacks. The most common type \u2014 atrial fibrillation \u2014 increases a person\u2019s risk of stroke by about five times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to focus on preventing atrial arrhythmias, especially AF, as part of the effort to build healthier lives and reduce heart disease and stroke,\u201d said Dr. Wyatt. \u201cWe are excited to start our collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Houston to make an impact in eliminating atrial arrhythmias. We are indebted to the Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, and especially Grant Administrator Maria Ross, for helping push the grant through.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Wyatt presented his proposed study at the recent HRX AbstracX conference as a top five AbstracX semifinalist. He explained why advanced mathematical models can better facilitate the study of chaos introduced by AF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe left atrium (LA) is the most complex of the heart\u2019s four chambers, and it is where most irregular heart rhythms begin. If AF is truly chaotic, it can\u2019t be studied with simple formulas \u2014 it must be explored using advanced computer models and simulations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the current digital model of the LA can mimic many standard arrhythmias, but it isn\u2019t detailed enough to uncover what actually drives AF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSince true chaos only appears in complex systems, this project\u2019s main goal is to add that missing complexity to the model in order to better understand the mechanisms behind AF.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Rupa Iyer, Tarleton State\u2019s Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Development, said the new funding from NIH is a testament to the groundbreaking work by Dr. Wyatt and his team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am proud of our RIED team who have worked tirelessly to support our faculty in pursuit of extramural funding while reducing administrative burden that comes with the submission of NIH proposals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A $464,502 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been awarded to Tarleton State University Mathematics Professor Dr. Bryant Wyatt to study the underlying causes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":53689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,422,423,425,426,427],"tags":[430,441,445],"class_list":["post-53682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-morestories","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","category-honors-achievements","category-science-health","tag-academic-affairs","tag-college-of-science-mathematics","tag-division-of-research-innovation-and-economic-development"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2025\/09\/Wyatt-Bryant-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","_morestories<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Honors & Achievements<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","_morestories<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Honors & Achievements<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Academic Affairs<\/a>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/a>","Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academic Affairs<\/span>","College of Science & Mathematics<\/span>","Division of Research, Innovation and Economic Development<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 7 months ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 17, 2025","modified":"Updated on October 3, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 17, 2025 1:00 pm","modified":"Updated on October 3, 2025 10:00 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53682"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53964,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53682\/revisions\/53964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}