The UAB Heersink School of Medicine is proud to announce the recipients of the 2024/2025 Multi-PI Awards, each funded with $150,000 per year for two years. These awards recognize outstanding collaborative research efforts aimed at addressing critical health challenges. This year's awardees are Amit Gaggar, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, and Timmy Lee, M.D., MSPH, professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology. Their multidisciplinary approaches and groundbreaking research promise to advance scientific knowledge and significantly improve patient outcomes.
"We are immensely proud of our faculty for their exceptional research achievements," said Tika Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean, UAB Heersink School of Medicine, associate vice president for Medicine and Basic Sciences. "These awards will further advance their research efforts and significantly enhance the field of medicine.”
Amit Gaggar, M.D., Ph.D.Understanding COPD exacerbations
Gaggar and his team will study "The impact of vascular dysfunction on acute exacerbations of COPD," focusing on understanding the immunological mechanisms leading to cardiovascular complications during and after chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations.
“This research aims to examine the host immune response during acute COPD exacerbations and its link to cardiovascular dysfunction, which significantly increases mortality risk,” Gaggar said. “We hope to improve patient outcomes and survival rates by identifying biomarkers and therapeutic targets for these complications.”
The study's priorities include evaluating immunity and inflammation during exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD), utilizing advanced technologies like metabolomics and spatial transcriptomics, and addressing issues related to access to care for COPD patients. A multidisciplinary approach, leveraging expertise in immunology, cardiovascular research, metabolomics, and animal modeling, is crucial for comprehensively understanding and addressing the complex interactions between COPD exacerbations and cardiovascular events. The funding will support the recruitment of study subjects, assay, and specimen processing, and the development of a novel murine model for mechanistic studies. Ultimately, this study could lead to the discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets, potentially reducing the mortality and morbidity associated with COPD exacerbations, particularly from cardiovascular complications.
The research team includes Gregory Payne, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease; Rakesh Patel, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular and Cellular Pathology; Jarrod Barnes, Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine; and Michael Wells, M.D., MSPH, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine; all bringing diverse expertise to this innovative and impactful project.
Timmy Lee, M.D., MSPHExploring cardiorenal syndrome
Lee and his team’s research focuses on the interaction between kidney disease and cardiovascular health, particularly examining how arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) affect heart remodeling in patients with end-stage kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis. This team is investigating the stress these fistulas place on the heart, contributing to cardiovascular events. Additionally, they are exploring the effects of myocardial infarction and pressure overload in kidney disease, using animal and tissue-engineered models to better understand and potentially improve treatment outcomes.
The study, titled "Interorgan and intercellular crosstalk in cardiorenal syndrome," aims to clarify the mechanisms of pathological cardiac remodeling in the setting of kidney disease. The research includes four integrated projects:
- Project 1: Focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiac remodeling induced by volume overload (VO) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
- Project 2: Examines mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiac remodeling induced by cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and CKD.
- Project 3: Investigates mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiac remodeling induced by pressure overload (PO) and CKD.
- Project 4: Uses cardiac biomimetic chips to understand cardiac remodeling in CKD and test therapeutics in different cardiac and kidney injury conditions.
“This study is particularly relevant in Alabama, where a high percentage of the population suffers from both heart and kidney diseases,” Lee said. “We hope to develop new therapies to mitigate adverse heart changes by identifying mechanisms and pathways of heart remodeling in kidney disease.”
The project involves a multidisciplinary team, including Min Xie, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease; Jianhua Zhang, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Division of Molecular & Cellular Pathology; and Palaniappan Sethu, Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Disease. Their diverse backgrounds contribute to the project's uniqueness and innovation, allowing for synergistic and varied perspectives on studying cardiovascular disease.
“The overall goal is to submit a larger program project demonstrating feasibility and synergy among the projects,” Lee said. “A multidisciplinary approach is crucial, as the four projects are highly synergistic, sharing complementary data to enhance collective knowledge.”