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Congratulations to Dr. Steve Chan who was recently awarded a new NHLBI R01.  Dr. Chan has been awarded annual direct costs of over $390,000 for his grant titled, “Frataxin deficiency as a cause of endothelial senescence in multiple subtypes of pulmonary hypertension.” This proposal was submitted in response to the competitive funding opportunity titled NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01) under funding opportunity number PA-20-185.

In this proposal, we aim to establish the role of a specific protein called frataxin that we believe promotes the development of a deadly yet mysterious disease of the blood vessels in the lung, pulmonary hypertension (PH). Interestingly, naturally occurring mutations in frataxin cause a syndrome called Friedreich’s ataxia, where associated heart disease is linked with PH; thus, we plan to determine how those mutations directly promote lung blood vessel dysfunction in these patients. If successful, our work could shape genetic and molecular principles of how multiple types of PH develop and drive development of new medications for PH controlling frataxin activity.