Professor Alevriadou receives a $1.8M grant from the National Institutes of Health

Dr. B. Rita Alevriadou, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant titled “Control of Endothelial Mechanotransduction by the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter (MCU): Implications for Atherosclerosis”. The four-year grant is for $1.8M and runs from August 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022.

This project is the result of a collaboration between Dr. Alevriadou, lead Primary Investigator (PI), and Dr. Muniswamy, Professor of Medicine, University of Texas Health San Antonio, co-PI. The overarching goal is to identify blood flow (fluid shear stress)-regulated, MCU-mediated signaling and transcriptional changes in vascular endothelial cells (ECs), and the impact of these changes on EC dysfunction and atherosclerotic disease development, using appropriate in vitro and in vivo models. Atherosclerotic vascular disease continues to be the major cause of death in developed nations. Findings from this research may transform the prevention strategies for atherosclerosis by directing efforts towards the design of small-molecule MCU antagonists and their targeted delivery to the vascular endothelium in atheroprone regions.

Dr. Alevriadou is an expert in vas­cular mecha­nobiology/mechanotransduction and free radi­cal/mi­to­chon­drial biol­ogy, and her work has contributed to a better understanding of the role of the mecha­nochemical environment on the cellular and mo­lec­ular mecha­nisms of cardi­o­vas­cu­lar dis­eases/conditions, such as atherosclerosis and ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Click here to read more about Dr. Alevriadou's research. 

Congratulations to Dr. Alevriadou and her lab!