Dr Cunningham’s research has been funded by the American Heart Assn and NHLBI to study rheumatic heart disease, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Her studies have pioneered work in understanding how infections and autoimmunity lead to disease in the heart. Her laboratory has focused on human translational research and defining inflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms in the heart in rheumatic carditis, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy and heart failure to understand disease pathogenesis and define biomarkers of poor outcomes and inform about therapeutic options. Dr. Cunningham has served many years on study sections and review committees at the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association (AHA), Veterans Administration USA, and she served 5 years on the AHA National Research Committee. She was a representative of the United States for the US-Indo Vaccine Action Program. She was elected an AAAS and ASM fellow. Dr Cunningham is the author of 150+ publications.