P3HVB - Vascular Medicine Institute

Pilot Project Program in Hemostasis and Vascular Biology (P3HVB)

Funding Opportunities

The VMI was established at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 as a home for rigorous, cutting edge, basic and translational research in hemostasis, red blood cell biophysics, transfusion medicine, cardiovascular biology, mitochondrial biology, and nitrite-nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species biochemistry in order to expand understanding of the control of blood flow to organ systems; with the ultimate goal of developing novel therapies for diseases such as pulmonary hypertension, sickle cell vasculopathy, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart disease.

Program Summary

The VMI Pilot Project Program in Hemostasis and Vascular Biology (P3HVB) is intended to attract investigators new to the general areas of hemostasis and vascular biology by seeding innovative and translational research projects that have the potential to open new avenues for critical research in the general areas of:

Hemostasis and platelet biology, especially as focused on the integration of the roles of red cells, platelets, and hemostatic factors
Hemophilia
Platelet Transfusion
Transfusion medicine
Transfusion-related lung injury (TRALI)
Small pilot clinical trials in above areas or vascular biology

The program will support grants of $25,000 for one year duration. Applications for new projects may request up to $50,000 with appropriate justification. If a previously awarded project is successful in demonstrating that the area of research is important and innovative, the investigator may apply for competitive renewals.

The due date for the FY23 cycle is April 15, 2022.

Eligibility

All University of Pittsburgh faculty members are eligible to apply as principal investigators.

Instructors, fellows, and postdoctoral researchers may also apply as principal investigators if they can demonstrate a track record of research success, if there is a research mentoring plan from a qualified faculty member at the rank of associate professor (not research track) or higher, and if there is a commitment from the faculty member in whose laboratory the instructor/fellow/postdoctoral researcher works that all necessary laboratory resources will be available for the proposed project see (here and below for relevant instructions). Collaboration between VMI member and non-VMI member investigators is encouraged.

For any given research group, only one award may be active at a given time. That is, if there are several research faculty members working under the umbrella and mentorship of a given faculty member, only one award may be active for the entire group, independent of whether the principal investigator on the P3HVB award is the senior investigator or any of the research faculty members.

Projects that focus on translational integrative vascular biology with an emphasis on the role of red cells, platelets, and hemostatic factors will be of high priority, although other areas of research will be considered. Collaborative efforts, bringing new researchers into the critical research areas described previously will be given additional priority and should be highlighted as part of the proposal. Should other funding sources become available for the P3HVB, the relative priority on the role of red cells, platelets, and hemostatic factors will be commensurate with the relative levels of funding from and priorities of the other sources. Independent of the source of funding, translational research will be of the highest priority. Thus, it will be incumbent on an applicant to convince reviewers that the results of a laboratory-based program have the potential to be translated into clinical utility. Applications from early-career investigators and those with a particularly strong need for funding will be prioritized.

Budget Information

In planning budgets, please note that requests for no-cost extensions (carryovers) will need to be justified in detail. Approval will be contingent upon demonstration of significant progress in the conduct of the project and on evaluation of the reasons for the delay in its completion. If an award is to be made, no monies can be expended until any necessary regulatory protocols (IRB, IACUC, rDNA, CORID, hSCRO) are approved. The start date for the project will be dependent on such approval.

Application Elements

Applications must include:

Cover Page – name of faculty PIs, academic degrees, departments, contact information, budget period (not to exceed one year and to start four weeks after submission date at earliest), requested budget (not to exceed $50K)

Proposal – Maximum of 3 pages (+ 1-page bibliography) narrative addressing research rationale, aims/hypotheses, approach, expected results and plan for extramural funding

Budget – one-page budget describing distribution of funds. Note:
– Money can be used to support staff and postdocs, but not faculty salaries
– Money cannot be used to buy major equipment
– Money can support only direct costs (no indirect costs)

If the principal investigator is an instructor, fellow, or postdoctoral researcher, a letter of support from the research mentor that documents the relevant mentoring plan must be included. If the research mentor is someone other than the faculty member in whose laboratory the applicant has a primary appointment, there must also be a letter from the faculty member with primary responsibility for the applicant that documents that all necessary resources for conducting the project are available to the applicant. Demonstration of an appropriate mentoring plan and of the availability of necessary resources will be some of the criteria used in evaluating the application.

Review Criteria

The primary review criteria are:
• The degree to which the project explores the role of red cells, platelets and hemostatic factors
• The potential to lead to more comprehensive studies
• The degree to which the project is translational
• The scientific feasibility and scientific merit of the project
• That the letter(s) of support for instructors, fellows, or postdoctoral researchers demonstrate(s) adequate commitment to the applicant and to the project.

Applications will undergo peer review by non-conflicted investigators from the University of Pittsburgh or UPMC. Recommendations made as a result of the peer review process will be forwarded to the internal advisory board of the VMI for final selection of grants to be awarded. Successful applicants will be expected to present their findings, both in written form and through presentation, to the VMI.

Applications are to be submitted electronically, as a single pdf file, to Andy Stephany, Administrator VMI, stephanyar2@upmc.edu, with a cc to P3HVB@upmc.edu by 5:00 pm on the receipt date identified above. No exceptions will be made to the receipt date. Within one week of the receipt date, each applicant should receive an e-mail message from Andy notifying him/her that his/her application has been received. If an applicant does not receive such notification, he/she should contact Andy.

Questions about the program should be directed to Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, FAHA, Director, VMI, chansy@pitt.edu.

Click here to view/download a PDF of the information above.

Awarded Grants

Recently Funded

Investigator	Project Title	Sponsor	Status
William Bain, MD	Competitive Renewal: “Platelets counter lung epithelial cell death to protect against infection-induced lung injury”	HCWP	Active
Stephen Chan, MD, PhD	Development of 18F-fluoroglutamine as a novel metabolic tracer for PET imaging in pulmonary hypertension	Vitalant	Active
Jacqueline Ho, MD	Endothelial miR-17~92 protects against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury	Vitalant	Active
Prithu Sundd, PhD	Role of platelet extracellular vesicles in PH pathogenesis	HCWP	Active
Sina Tavakoli, MD, PhD	Targeted Imaging of CMKLR1 for Detection of Inflammation in Human Endarterectomy Specimens	Vitalant	Active
William Bain, MD	Platelets counter lung epithelial cell death to protect against infection-induced lung injury	HCWP	Active
Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD	Role of platelet-derived microvesicles in inflammatory myeloid cell generation after myocardial infarction	HCWP	Active
Ram Kalpatthi, MD	Novel Biomarker of neurocognitive function in children and adults with sickle cell disease	Vitalant	Active
Bernhard Kühn, MD	Injury-induced vascular signals inhibit heart regeneration	Vitalant	Active
Toru Nyunoya, MD	Role of neutrophil-platelet aggregates in COPD exacerbation	HCWP	Active
Michael Risbano, MD	miRNA and Myokines Acutely-expressed During Exercise (M2ADE)	Vitalant	Active
Craig Seaman, MD, MS	Normalized von Willebrand factor levels in type 1 von Willebrand disease and risk of bleeding with invasive procedures	HCWP	Active
Dario Vitturi, PhD	Tryptophan Metabolism Imbalance in Sickle Cell Disease	Vitalant	Active
Katherine Wood, PhD	A Potential Mechanism of Resistance to Prophylactic Transfusion Against Stroke in Sickle Cell Disease	Vitalant	Active

Previously-Funded P3HVB Grants

Investigator(s)	Project Title	Sponsor	Status
Carlton Bates, MD	Vascular development and blood flow in normal and FGF receptor mutant bladders	HCWP	Active
Justin Buland, DO	Novel Biosynthesis of Lipid Mediators and their effects on Pulmonary Endothelium in ALI	ITxM	Active
(Bill?) Chen	MiR-34a regulation of tetrahydrobiopterin in angiogenesis	ITxM	Active
Kathleen Dorritie, MD	Development of a joint pediatric sickle cell allogeneic hematopoetic stem cell transplantation program: Innovation, Research, and High Quality Patient Care	ITxM	Active
Hernando Gomez Danies, MD	The goal of glycocalyx shedding and platelet adhesion in sepsis-induced microvascular dysfunction	HCWP	Active
Arun Jeyabalan, MD	Asymmetric Dimethylarginine, Arginase and Nitric Oxide in the Prediction and Pathogenesis of Preeclampsia	ITxM	Active
Daniel Kass, MD	TGFB regulates expression of the relaxin receptor RXFP1 in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension	HCWP	Active
Janet Lee, MD, MS	Role of Red Cell Microparticles in Altering Innate Immune Response Following Transfusion	ITxM	Active
(Christine?) Leeper	Rapid thromboelastography (TEG) in pediatric trauma: Delineation and management of trauma-induced coagulopathy	HCWP	Active
Mason (Radiology)	PET imaging of the vaso-occlusive crisis of sickle cell disease	HCWP	Active
Matthew Neal, MD	Platelet derived microparticles promote post-traumatic deep vein thrombosis formation	HCWP	Active
Seyed Nourai, MD, PhD	Risk of 30-day readmission among sickle cell disease patients, application of electronic medical record	ITxM	Active
Sanjay Patel, MD, MS	Using electronic health records to assess the impact of obstructive sleep apnea on risk of incident pulmonary hypertension	ITxM	Active
Caterina Rosano, MD, MPH	Neurovascular Signature of Accelerated Cognitive Impairment in Adult Patients with Sickle Cell Disease	ITxM	Active
Sunder Sims-Lucas, PhD	The renal microvasculature is highly sensitive to hyperglycemia	ITxM	Active
Richard Steinman, MD, PhD	Cell Cycle Proteins as Novel Modulators of Platelet Function	HCWP	Active
Ora Weisz, PhD	VinDCate: Vitamin D in sickle cell patients	ITxM	Active
Ahmad	The Role of Platelet Gene Expression in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension	HCWP	Completed
Badylak/Gilbert	CD47 blockade enhances angiogenesis in decellularized organs	ITxM	Completed
Bauer*	Complement Activation and Thrombosis in Pulmonary Hypertension*	HCWP	Completed
Bauer	Cross talk between TLR4 and the complement system contributes to the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension	HCWP	Completed
Bayir/Kim-Campbell	Cardiopulmonary bypass and organ dysfunction: association with hemolysis and cell-free hemoglobin	ITxM	Completed
Belfer	Exploratory studies of psychophysical pain phenotyping and genetic variability in children with sickle cell disease	ITxM	Completed
Bisello	EBP50 and atherosclerosis	HCWP	Completed
Bodnar	Modulation of Endothelial Cell Function - Regulation by Platelet Activation	HCWP	Completed
George	HIV Nef and Src Kinase Signaling in HIV-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension	HCWP	Completed
Hughan	An Open-Label Study of Oral Combination of Nitrite and Nitrate in Adults with Metabolic Syndrome and Hypertension	ITxM	Completed
Kelley	Storage-Induced Hemolysis of Packed Red Blood Cells Results in Direct and Indirect ROS Production and NO Inactivation	HCWP	Completed
Khandhar	The Study of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients with Left Heart Failure Utilizing Novel Vascular Biology Techniques	HCWP	Completed
Kim	Regulation of Platelet Biology and Thombosis by Histone Deacetylases	HCWP	Completed
Lee	Red Cell Microparticles in Transfusion-Related Lung Inflammatory Injury	ITxM	Completed
McLaughlin/Kaynar	Regulation of Endothelial Function by Coagulation Proteases in Sepsis	ITxM	Completed
McVerry	The Role of Endothelial Dysfunction in Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury	ITxM	Completed
McVerry	Interaction between Nox2 and eNOS contributes to pulmonary vascular dysfunction in acute lung injury	ITxM	Completed
O'Donnell	Impaired vascular blood flow to skeletal muscle in hyperglycemic sepsis	ITxM	Completed
Ragni	Phase II Biologic Effects Study of Recombinant Interleukin-11 (rhiL-11, Neumega®) in Subjects With Moderate or Mild Hemophilia A, or Von Willebrand Disease Unable to Use DDAVP	HCWP	Completed
Ragni	Thrombin generation and hemomstasis in the international immune tolerance study: ITI TGT Substudy	HCWP
Rojas	Modification of perfusion solution to improve the quality of ex vivo human lungs	HCWP	Completed
Sims-Lucas	Determining the role of stromally derived endothelium during organogenesis	ITxM	Completed
Tillman	Depletion of Circulating Progenitors to Prevent Vascular Restenosis	HCWP	Completed
Tofovic	Adenosine Deaminase - Adenosine Pathway in Hemolysis-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension	HCWP	Completed
Yang	Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells as a Model for Inherited Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension	ITxM	Completed

*March 2012 - Dr. Eileen Bauer was awarded the Entelligence Young Investigator Award in pulmonary vascular disease. Her submission was based on work funded by this VMI P3HVB grant.