She also serves as Vice Dean, Graduate Studies (Rady Faculty of Health Sciences) and Acting Associate Dean (Faculty of Graduate Studies). The goal of her research program is to understand how risk factors for cardiovascular disease, especially hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiac hypertrophy (abnormal growth of the heart), and diabetes promote the development of heart failure. Her ultimate aim is to identify new therapies, perhaps from a nutritional perspective, that prevent or slow the onset of heart failure. To achieve this aim, Dr. Anderson’s laboratory at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre uses several models of cardiovascular disease of escalating complexity ranging from cultured heart muscle cells, to isolated hearts and arteries, to hearts and arteries in vivo.