March 2025 – June 2025
Mehret Birru Talabi, MD, PhD (with Marian Jarlenski) // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Effects of health policy on the health of people with systemic autoimmune and rheumatic diseases
R01 HD118690
Start Date: May 25, 2025
End Date: February 28, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $673,538
Timothy Corcoran, PhD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
CF Foundation National Resource Center – MCC
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 5134869
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $15,000
John Cormack, PhD // Cardiology
Mechanical effects and ultrasound imaging of myofiber remodeling in excised pressure-overloaded human RV myocardium
AHA 25CDA1446353 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $76,964
Malamo Countouris, MD, MS // Cardiology
Pregnancy-Associated Trajectories of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Health (PACT-CKM)
AHA 25SFRNPCKMS1463897
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $94,713
Nadine Hempel, PhD (with Katherine Aird and Raquel Buj Gomez) // Malignant Hematology and Medical Oncology
Cell intrinsic and extrinsic effects of zinc metabolism in therapy resistant melanoma
R01 CA301573
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $673,526
Mengqi Huang, PhD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Deciphering the Regulation of TGF-b3 in Driving Myofibroblast Differentiation in Systemic Sclerosis
K01 AR085206 Career Development Award
Start Date: May 15, 2025
End Date: April 30, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $113,090
Kang Kim, PhD (with Xiaoning Jiang and Qifa Zhou) // Cardiology/Vascular Medicine Institute
Dual frequency intravascular ultrasound for super-resolution imaging of vasa vasorum and thin fibrous cap of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques
R01 HL178101
Start Date: April 22, 2025
End Date: January 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $726,205
Alison Kohan, PhD (with Ivona Vasile Pandrea) // Endocrinology and Metabolism
Impact of a Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist administration on SIV/HIV pathogenesis and ART
R01 DK140931
Start Date: April 10, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $780,853
John J. Pacella, MD, MS // Cardiology
Focal Myocardial Delivery of Small Molecule Nitroalkenes using Ultrasound Targeted Microbubble Cavitation to Improve Ventricular Recovery Following Myocardial Infarction
R01 HL173319
Start Date: March 4, 2025
End Date: December 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $720,676
Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD // Cardiology/Vascular Medicine Institute
The role of the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway in cardiac macrophage-mediated inflammation post myocardial infarction
AHA 25EIA1415660 Established Investigator Award
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $109,960
Daniel Kass, MD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Start Date: June 1, 2025
End Date: May 31, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $81,188
Brett Kaufman, PhD // Cardiology/Vascular Medicine Institute
Distinct Targeting Strategies to Inhibit Replication of mtDNA Deletions with Repeat and Non-Repeat Sequences
Champ Foundation
Start Date: April 15, 2025
End Date: April 14, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $100,000
Toru Nyunoya, MD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Role of smoking in severe influenza pneumonia
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 36C24E25C0005/7
Start Date: May 1, 2025
End Date: April 30, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $32,814
Chester Oddis, MD // Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Transcriptomic profiling of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma SRA00005688
Savara SRA00005759
Start Date: April 21, 2025
End Date: April 20, 2027
Total Annual Costs: $265,812
Sanjay Patel, MD, MS // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study: Cook County Clinical Research Site
Hektoen Institute 50817-324-UPMC
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $45,037
Thomas Radomski, MD, MS (with Michael Schneider) // General Internal Medicine
A Virtual Center for Collaborative Research in Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions
U24 AT013345
Start Date: April 28, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $1,297,536
Anum Saeed, MD // Cardiology
Wellness for All: Mapping Precise Predictors of Cardiovascular Response to GLP-1 Agonists in Diverse Groups
AHA 25GLP1447886
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $150,000
Ryan Shields, PharmD, MS // Infectious Diseases
Mechanisms of Resistance and Clinical Outcomes of non-Carbapenemase Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Infections
Houston Methodist Research Institute AGMT00015704
Start Date: March 1, 2025
End Date: February 28, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $71,525
Bryant Shuey, MD, MPH // General Internal Medicine
Lowering Cardiovascular Disease Among People with Opioid Use Disorder
K23 DA062822 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 15, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $189,500
Cytogam as Adjuvant Therapy to Prevent or Attenuate Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection and Disease in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients
Kamada Pharmaceuticals SRA00005303
Start Date: April 10, 2025
End Date: April 9, 2026
Total Annual Costs: $440,000
Cynthia St. Hilaire, PhD // Cardiology/Vascular Medicine Institute
Medial Arterial Calcification in Peripheral Artery Disease
R01 HL176595
Start Date: March 5, 2025
End Date: December 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $761,042
Dhiraj Yadav, MD, MPH // Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Identifying Pathways of Progression of Acute Pancreatitis to Recurring Acute Pancreatitis and Chronic Pancreatitis
U.S. Department of Defense HT94252510405
Start Date: June 1, 2025
End Date: May 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $246,557
Lianghui Zhang, MD, PhD, and Michael Risbano, MD // Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine
Pathogenic Mechanism and Therapeutic Approaches for Exercise Intolerance in Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19
R01 HL176493 First R01 for Dr. Risbano
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: January 31, 2029
Total Annual Costs: $633,045
Xiangyu Zhang, PhD // Cardiology
Leveraging macrophage leucine metabolism as a therapeutic strategy in atherosclerosis
AHA 25CDA1449766 Career Development Award
Start Date: April 1, 2025
End Date: March 31, 2028
Total Annual Costs: $77,000
Bokai Zhu, PhD // Endocrinology and Metabolism/Aging Institute
Decoding the functions of nuclear speckle in protein quality control
R35 GM157978
Start Date: June 1, 2025
End Date: April 30, 2030
Total Annual Costs: $452,250
Internal Funding Opportunities
Applications are now being solicited for the Samuel and Emma Winters Foundation. The Foundation annually awards six to eight 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, 2025. The period of the grant is September 1, 2025-August 31, 2026.
Proposals that have been received by Friday, July 13, 2025, will be forwarded to the members of the Winters Foundation Grants Review Committee.
Proposals should be submitted to: wtrsfnd@pitt.edu. Please see this PDF for further information.