Nehal Patel awarded a T32 Cardiac Predoctoral Fellowship by the National Institutes of Health

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Nehal Patel, a current graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), has been selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cardiac Predoc T32 Admissions and Internal Advisory Committees as a T32 Trainee for the upcoming year. This NIH T32 training grant supports the training of pre-doctoral students performing cardiovascular research. This prestigious Fellowship is renewable for up to 3 years, upon demonstration of progress and meeting program expectations

Patel is a Ph.D Candidate in Dr.Thomas Hund's lab. He received his B.S. degree (with Honors) in BME from The Ohio State University in May 2016, and started in the Ph.D. program in BME at Ohio State in August 2016.

Patel’s project is titled "Novel Pathways for the Regulation of Cardiac Fibrosis and Arrhythmia." Summary: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiac fibrosis is one of the hallmarks in the development of heart failure and has been associated with the progression of disease and arrhythmia with no current effective treatments. My research aims to study the molecular/cellular pathways that regulate cardiac fibrosis and function through disruption of the cytoskeletal protein, BetaIV-Spectrin, following acute and chronic stress. My research further uses optical mapping, a bioimaging system, to study the mechanisms of arrhythmia (i.e. ventricular tachycardia) resulting from cardiac fibrosis.

His future plans post-graduation is to pursue a career in a biotech/biopharmaceutical industry focusing in the areas of regulatory/medical affairs.

 

Congratulations Nehal!