April 2026 – June 2026
Kaleab Abebe, PhD; Linda Fried, MD, MPH; and Paul Palevsky, MD (with S. Kane Gill, PharmD) // General Internal Medicine and Renal-Electrolyte
The Pittsburgh Scientific and Data Research Center for the COPE-AKI Consortium (Pitt-SDRC)
U01 DK130010 Supplement
Start Date: April 01, 2026
End Date: June 30, 2028
Total Annual Direct Costs: $150,000
Timothy Anderson, MD, MS // General Internal Medicine
Initiation of Emerging Preventative Therapies Following Cardiovascular Hospitalizations
AHA 26BCDA1622751 Bridge Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2027
Total Annual Costs: 77000
Cary Boyd-Shiwarski, MD, PhD // Renal-Electrolyte
The molecular and physiologic effects of calcineurin inhibitors on WNK body bimolecular condensates
R01 DK142678 First R01
Start Date: April 16, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $493,776
Tomasz Brzoska, MPharm, PhD // Classical Hematology/VMI
From Hemolysis to Thrombosis: Mechanistic and Therapeutic Dissection of Fibrinolytic Dysfunction in Sickle Cell Disease
AHA 26CDA1611806 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
NCI NCTN-Network Lead Academic Participating Site at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
UG1 CA233184 Competitive Renewal
Start Date: May 1, 2019
End Date: February 29, 2032
Total Annual Direct Costs: $673,753
Targeting lysosomal dysfunction and inflammation for restoring vascular health
Harrington Discovery Institute
Start Date: May 4, 2026
End Date: June 30, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $50,000
>> Read more about this award
Testing the Use of VA Peer Specialists to Prevent Veteran Suicide
I01 RD000411
Start Date: April 01, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Andreea Coca, MD, MPH // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) Clinical Trial Renewal 2
Lupus Research Alliance
Start Date: March 25, 2026
End Date: December 31, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $160,000
Malamo Countouris, MD, MS // Cardiology
Phenotyping Later Life Left Ventricular Remodeling among Women with a History of Preeclampsia
AHA 26BCDA1622763 Bridge Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
Rolando Cuevas, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
Telomerase modulate KLF4 pioneer-dependent cell reprogramming in vascular disease
AHA 26CDA1595704 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
Understanding the crosstalk between microglia and neurons after myocardial infarction
AHA 26BIPA1622616 Bridge Innovative Project Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $99,170
Rachael Gordon, MD, PhD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Generating Novel Sjögren’s Mouse Models by Integrating Environmental Triggers with Genetic Susceptibility
Sjögren’s Foundation
Start Date: May 27, 2026
End Date: August 31, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $50,000
Rachael Gordon, MD, PhD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Preclinical characterization of Totus IRF5 molecules in human Sjögren’s samples
Totus Medicines SRA00006704
Start Date: March 26, 2026
End Date: May 19, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $34,464
Shikha Gupta, MD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter study of the efficacy and safety of depemokimab in adult participants with COPD with Type 2 inflammation
GlaxoSmithKline SRA00006331
Start Date: March 24, 2026
End Date: N/A
Total Annual Costs: $141,231
Megan Hamm, PhD // General Internal Medicine
Vancomycin and Piperacillin/Tazobactam Nephrotoxicity or Pseudonephrotoxicity? A Pragmatic Adaptive Comparative Randomized Controlled Trial to Optimize Safety for Hospitalized Patients with Severe Infections (the VPT Patient Safety RCT [VPS])
Bassett Medical Center
Start Date: April 21, 2026
End Date: December 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $71,746
Rimi Hazra, PhD // Classical Hematology/VMI
Heme regulates neurocognition by modulating Tau pathology in sickle cell disease
R01 NS144078 First R01
Start Date: June 2, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $340,317
Nadine Hempel, PhD // Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology
Non-canonical functions of the mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 in ovarian cancer
R01 CA304154
Start Date: June 1, 2026
End Date: May 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $420,602
Nadine Hempel, PhD (with M. Karthikeyan) // Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology
Defining the impact of detachment sensing proteins in ovarian cancer metastasis
R01 CA297821
Start Date: May 1, 2026
End Date: April 30, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $514,642
Sae Jang, MD // Cardiology/VMI
Evaluation of Capillary Biomechanics and Vasoreactivity in Diabetes
AHA 26CDA1592834 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
Manisha Jhamb, MD, MPH // Renal-Electrolyte
Enhancing PCP-Nephrologist Co-Management for CKD: Leveraging Population Health Management and Learning Health System for Scalable Solutions
R01 DK144089
Start Date: June 24, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2026
Total Annual Direct Costs: $478,210
Anthony Kanai, PhD // Renal-Electrolyte
Development of a Non-addictive Analgesic for Treating Interstitial Cystitis / Bladder Pain Syndrome
US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) HT9425261E210
Start Date: May 18, 2026
End Date: June 30, 2030
MD Saifur Rahman Khan, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
Mechanistic dissection of the role of CERS2 and its risk allele in T2D pathogenesis
R01 DK144050 First R01
Start Date: May 15, 2026
End Date: February 28, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $413,480
Alison Kohan, PhD // Endocrinology and Metabolism
Compound absorption in mesenteric lymph
EndoPure SRA00006729
Start Date: April 28, 2026
End Date: April 27, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $139,879
Tamar Krishnamurti, PhD // General Internal Medicine
Project PITCH (Perinatal Incentivized Treatment and Care for Hypertension)
UPMC Center for High Value Health Care
Start Date: April 22, 2026
End Date: August 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $132,855
Robert Lafyatis, MD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
The Role of Serum Biomarkers for Detecting Treatment Responses in SSc-ILD
Takeda Pharmaceuticals SRA00006557
Start Date: May 29, 2026
End Date: May 18, 2028
Satoshi Okawa, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
Investigating spaceflight-induced brain-heart axis aging and identifying repurposed drugs to mitigate its effects
NASA 80NSSC26K0720
Start Date: May 4, 2026
End Date: May 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $249,490
Satoshi Okawa, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
A generalizable computational platform for early organ vulnerability modeling and therapeutic discovery using systemic omics and imaging
R35 GM164224
Start Date: May 5, 2026
End Date: January 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $275,000
Sharon Riddler, MD // Infectious Diseases
HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) 1249461
Start Date: May 13, 2026
End Date: November 30, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $99,843
Frank Sciurba, MD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
A Multicenter, Randomized, Study to Evaluate Safety and Efficacy After Treatment with the dNerva Lung Denervation System in Subjects with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (AIRFLOW-4)
Nuvaira SRA00006670
Start Date: April 22, 2026
End Date: N/A
Total Annual Costs: $112,851
Daniella Schwartz, MD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Developing a Molecular Taxonomy for Immune-Mediated Diseases
R01 AI189495
Start Date: April 01, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $413,531
Craig Seaman, MD, MS // Classical Hematology
CSL Behring LLC SRA00006546
Start Date: May 14, 2026
End Date: May 14, 2033
Total Annual Costs: $280,043
Nicolas Sluis-Cremer, PhD (with G. Calero, PhD) // Infectious Diseases
Time resolved structural analyses of β-lactam/β-lactam inhibitor binding to AmpC
R01 AI197205
Start Date: April 01, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $560,957
Cynthia St Hilaire, PhD // Cardiology/VMI
Center for Aortic Valve Disease Prediction and Integrated Research
AHA 26SFRNCVHD1592530
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $1,036,525
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Jeremy Tilstra, MD, PhD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
A Phase 2, randomized, open-label, controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rapcabtagene autoleucel versus comparator in participants with sever refractory idiopathic inflammatory myopathies
Novartis International AG SRA00006586
Start Date: February 27, 2026
End Date: August 1, 2032
Total Annual Costs: $1,696,232
Jeremy Tilstra, MD, PhD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Evaluating the Parenchymal IFN response in Lupus Nephritis
R01 AI198487 First R01
Start Date: April 24, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $468,637
Ravy Vajravelu, MD, MSCE // Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Validating Iron Deficiency Anemia diagnoses in a Longitudinal Nationwide Cohort to Improve Clinical Outcomes, Care Quality, and Research Rigor
American College of Gastroenterology
Start Date: March 16, 2026
End Date: June 30, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $8,981
Daria Van Tyne, PhD // Infectious Diseases
Profiling phage activity and immune response to phage in pwCF receiving phage therapy
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 009949G225
Start Date: May 1, 2026
End Date: April 30, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $167,998
Daria Van Tyne, PhD // Infectious Diseases
Pitt Center for Accelerating Phage Therapy (P-CAPT)
P01 AI195376
Start Date: April 24, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $1,907,626
>> Read more about this award
Amber Vandevender (Alder lab) // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Senescent hepatocytes confer unexpected protection against metabolic liver disease
F31 DK145182
Start Date: April 15, 2026
End Date: April 14, 2029
Total Annual Direct Costs: $50,114
Development and Testing of a Pharmacist Led Population Health Management Program to Optimize Guideline Recommended Medication Therapy in Chronic Kidney Disease
K23 DK144695 Career Development Award
Start Date: June 1, 2026
End Date: February 28, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $176,485
Biomarkers and Predictors of Treatment Response in Chronic Anemia in Sickle Cell Disease
K23 HL175249 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 10, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2031
Total Annual Direct Costs: $176,100
Yu-Sheng Yeh, PhD, RD // Cardiology/VMI
Autophagy-lysosomal lipid metabolism in adipose tissue during acute and chronic metabolic stress
AHA 26CDA1598076 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2026
End Date: March 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
Lianghui Zhang, MD, PhD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Virus-induced dysfunctional immunomodulatory endothelium as a driver for acute and post-COVID chronic comorbidities
RTI International 540
Start Date: March 23, 2026
End Date: February 28, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $399,988
Manipulation of leucine uptake, sensing, and metabolism in macrophages as a diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in atherosclerosis
R01 HL183153 First R01
Start Date: May 1, 2026
End Date: February 29, 2028
Total Annual Direct Costs: $999,702
Internal Funding Opportunities
ASPIRE Funding
The overarching aim of Advancing Scientific Programs of Independently-funded Researchers (ASPIRE) is to support growth, diversification, and scientific impact of the research programs and grant portfolios of early-mid career investigators in the DOM. The Department supports up to $75k per year in funding for ASPIRE to facilitate subsequent R-level funding.
Details and application: dom.pitt.edu/aspire
Applications are due by 11:59pm on July 31, 2026.
Please direct any inquiries to chairoff@pitt.edu.
Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation
Applications are now being solicited for the Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation. The Foundation annually awards six to nine small grants (average of $10K) for biomedical research to investigators at several institutions in the greater Pittsburgh area. These awards are for a maximum of one year and are intended for junior faculty members, although senior investigators who develop new research directions may also receive the Foundation’s consideration. Research Associates and Fellows are not eligible unless they have been guaranteed a faculty appointment as of July 1, 2026. The period of the grant is September 1, 2026-August 31, 2027.
Proposals that have been received by Friday, August 7, 2026, will be forwarded to the members of the Winters Foundation Grants Review Committee.
Proposals should be submitted to: chairoff@pitt.edu. Please see this PDF for further information.