The American Heart Association has awarded a new research grant to a team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to develop an artificial intelligence-powered early warning system for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The project, titled “A Personalized and Scalable Early Warning System for Prediction of Imminent Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest,” aims to identify individuals whose risk of cardiac arrest is rising in the hours or days before the event, a critical window for intervention. More than 600,000 cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. each year, and survival rates remain low both in and out of the hospital, according to the Association.
The research is the newest grant awarded through the Cardiac Arrest Research Team (CART) Network, a collaboration between the American Heart Association and Heart & Stroke™, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Originally launched in June 2026, the CART Network was established to advance the prediction, detection, treatment of and recovery from cardiac arrest. The network brings together teams from both countries to share expertise, resources, and approaches to accelerate scientific discoveries and translate findings into practice to improve survival and outcomes.
The Cedars-Sinai team, led by principal investigator Sumeet Chugh, M.D., vice-dean and chief AI health research officer, and co-principal investigator Kyndaron Reinier, M.P.H., Ph.D., a research associate professor, will develop a system that combines multiple types of health information, including symptoms such as chest pain or trouble breathing, Fitbit activity tracker data, medical history, blood tests, and electrocardiogram data. Artificial intelligence will integrate these clues to update a person’s risk level in real time. The research team will be known as The K. Scott Gordon Memorial Research Team for Cardiac Arrest Prediction and Prevention, made possible through a generous gift from a donor to the Association.
“This new project is intended to support a more personalized and scalable approach to identifying people whose risk of cardiac arrest may be increasing,” said Manesh R. Patel, M.D., FAHA, the American Heart Association's 2026-2027 volunteer president. “Cardiac arrest is a profound and tragic occurrence, and we know seconds matter in making sure people get the right lifesaving treatment at the right time. Our collaboration with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is an important step in our global work for a world of longer, healthier lives.”
Funding scientific research and discovery through initiatives like this is a cornerstone of the lifesaving mission of the American Heart Association. The Association has now funded more than $6.3 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health research since 1949, making it the single largest non-profit, non-government supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S. New knowledge resulting from this funding continues to save lives and directly impact millions of people in every corner of the U.S. and around the world. For more information about cardiac arrest, visit heart.org.
