Focused Research Programs Award Recipients

Active Partnerships

AHA/ASA/American Brain Lawrence M. Brass, M.D., Stroke Research Postdoctoral Fellowship

Julie Siegenthaler, Ph.D. 
University of San Francisco
Project Title: Regulation of blood vessel formation in the meninges and cerebral cortex by the transcription factor Foxc1 
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2007; Award End Date: June 30, 2009 
Award Amount: $81,000

Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Project Title: Cardiovascular Risk Factors for Stroke and Consequences of Stroke Among Three Racial/Ethnic Groups
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: January 1, 2012; Award End Date: December 31, 2013
Award Amount: $130,000

Clotilde Balucani, M.D.
SUNY, Downstate
Project Title: The Rapid vascular Ultrasound evaluation and serial Neurological assessment in minor stroke and rapidly improving stroke
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: January 1, 2013; Award End Date: December 31, 2014
Award Amount: $130,000

Sunil Sheth, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Project Title: Characterization of lipid biomarkers in the detection, prognosis, and time course of acute ischemic stroke
Program Type: Mentored Clinical & Population Research Program
Award Start Date:01/01/2015; Award End Date: 12/31/2016
Award Amount: $154,000

Karen Hirsch, M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto
Project Title: Post-cardiac arrest brain injury: novel methodologies to quantify severity and predict outcome
Program Type: Mentored Clinical & Population Research Program
Award Start Date:01/01/2016; Award End Date: 12/31/2017
Award Amount: $140,000

Laura Graham, MPH
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Project Title: Improving Participation and Reducing Acute Cardiovascular Hospitalizations with Weight Management (ReACH)
Program Type: Mentored Clinical & Population Research Program
Award Start Date:01/01/2017; Award End Date: 12/31/2018
Award Amount: $150,217

AHA/CCF Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Research Award

George Porter, M.D.
Yale University
Project Title:  Calcium channel disruption, a new model of non-compaction cardiomyopathy. 
Program Type: Grant-in-Aid 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2008; Award End Date: June 30, 2010 
Award Amount: $198,000

Jay Reddy, D.V.M., Ph.D.
University of Nebraska
Project Title:  Delineating autoimmunity in postinfectious myocarditis.
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2009; Award End Date: June 30, 2013 
Award Amount: $308,000

Timothy Wong, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Project Title: Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Assessment of Diffuse Myocardial Fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant
Award Start Date:01/01/2014; Award End Date: 12/31/2017
Award Amount: $308,000

AHA/CHF Congenital Heart Defect Research Awards

Awardees listed on CHF Research Awards Page

AHA/Enduring Hearts Foundation Research Award

Brian Feingold, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Project Title: Improving Late Survival after Pediatric Heart Transplant through Improved Understanding of Post-Tx Myocardial Fibrosis
Program Type: Grant-in-Aid
Award Start Date:07/01/2014; Award End Date: 06/30/2016
Award Amount: $154,000

James Young, Ph.D.
University of Chicago
Project Title: The role of endogenous, antigen-specific, auto- and alloreactive Tregs in transplantation tolerance
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date:07/01/2015; Award End Date: 06/30/2017
Award Amount: $106,372

Jean Kwun, Ph.D.; D.V.M
Duke University Medical Center
Project Title: Prevention of Homograft Induced Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy in Pediatric Heart Transplantation
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant
Award Start Date:07/01/2015; Award End Date: 06/30/2018
Award Amount: $231,000

Maria Siemionow, M.D.; Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Project Title: Novel Tolerogenic CD34/MSC Di-Chimeric Cell Therapy in Vascularized Composite Allograft and Heart Transplant Models
Program Type: Innovative Research Grant
Award Start Date:01/01/2016; Award End Date: 12/31/2017
Award Amount: $150,000

Katayoun Ayasoufi, Ph.D.
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Project Title: Mechanisms of T cell reconstitution following antibody-mediated lymphoablation
Program Type: Predoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date:07/01/2016; Award End Date: 01/20/2017
Award Amount: $51,900

Dilini Soysa, M.S.
University of Washington, Seattle
Project Title: Roles of cardiac and hepatic macrophage subsets in immune tolerance
Program Type: Predoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date:01/01/2017; Award End Date: 12/31/2018
Award Amount: $51,900

Alexandra Lucas, M.D.
Arizona State University, Tempe
Project Title: Regulating Glycosaminoglycans in Transplant Vascular Disease and Chronic Rejection
Program Type: Grant-in-Aid
Award Start Date: 01/01/2017; Award End Date: 12/31/2018
Award Amount: $154,000

Lauren Higdon, Ph.D.
Stanford University, Stanford
Project Title: Functional consequences of antigen specificity in CMV-responsive T cells
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date:07/01/2017; Award End Date: 12/31/2019
Award Amount: $106,532

Kunal Patel, M.D.
Medical University of South Carolina
Project Title: Targeted Ex vivo Nanotherapy for use in Cardiac Transplantation
Program Type: Clinical Scientist Training Program
Award Start Date:07/01/2017; Award End Date: 09/30/2019
Award Amount: $110,456

Palak Shah, M.D.
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Project Title: MicroRNA Biomarkers of Allograft Rejection in Cardiac Transplantation
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant
Award Start Date:07/01/2017; Award End Date: 09/30/2020
Award Amount: $229,416

AHA/Myocarditis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Brian Avanznio BS
University of California, Davis
Project Title:  Regulation of cardiovirulent picornaviral protein synthesis
Program Type: Predoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: January 1, 2013; Award End Date: December 31, 2014 
Award Amount: $50,000

AHA-Philips Resuscitation Fellowship Award

Zeng-Jin Yang, Ph.D.
John Hopkins University
Project Title: Mechanisms of neonatal brain injury after asphyxic cardiac arrest 
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2007; Award End Date: June 30, 2009 
Award Amount: $100,000

Ohad Ziv, M.D.
Rhode Island Hospital
Project Title: The influence of underlying heart disease and genetic background on mechanism of Ventricular Fibrillation 
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2008; Award End Date: June 30, 2010 
Award Amount: $100,000

Patrick Sips, Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Project Title: Impact of the nitric oxide/cGMP pathway on the outcome of cardiac arrest and resuscitation 
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2009; Award End Date: June 30, 2011 
Award Amount: $100,000

Hung Wei Lin, Ph.D.
University of Miami
Project Title: Protein Kinase C Delta Exacerbates Post-ischemic Cerebral Blood Flow Derangements After Cardiac Arrest
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: July 1, 2010; Award End Date: June 30, 2012
Award Amount: $96,476

Carmen Teodorescu, M.D., Ph.D.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Project Title: Risk factors for pulseless electrical activity
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: July 1, 2011; Award End Date: June 30, 2013
Award Amount: $102,000

Nidia Quillinan, Ph.D.
University of Colorado, Denver
Project Title: NMDA receptor regulation in Purkinje cells following transient global ischemia
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: July 1, 2012; Award End Date: June 30, 2014
Award Amount: $100,000

Inactive Partnerships

AHA/ASP Career Development Award

David Seo, M.D.
University of Miami
Project Title: Identifying Novel Blood Biomarkers for Coronary Heart Disease in the Elderly 
Program Type: Beginning Grant-in-Aid 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2006;  Award End Date: June 30, 2008 
Award Amount: $132,000

Brian Stauffer, M.D.
Denver Health Hospital.
Project Title: Metabolic Syndrome and Endothelial t-PA Release in Older Adults 
Program Type: Beginning Grant-in-Aid 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2007; Award End Date: June 30, 2009 
Award Amount: $132,000

Erik Schelbert, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Project Title: Risk Stratification with Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2009; Award End Date: June 30, 2013 
Total Award Amount: $308,000

Michael Widlansky, M.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Project Title: Effect of a Combined Pedometer/Computerized Feedback Intervention on Vascular and LV Function in Older Adults
Program Type: Grant-in-Aid
Award Start Date: July 1, 2010; Award End Date: June 30, 2012
Award Amount: $143,000

AHA/ASA/Emergency Medicine Foundation/Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Research Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award

Erik Paul Hess, M.D.
University of Ottawa 
Project Title: A Study to Derive and Validate a Clinical Decision Rule for Triage of Patients with Chest Pain
Program Type: Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award
Award Start Date: July 1, 2007; Award End Date: June 30, 2012 
Award Amount: $593,000

Micahel Cudnick, M.D.
The Ohio State University 
Project Title: Improving Survival from Sudden Cardiac Arrest: A Regional Geospatial Analysis 
Program Type: Scientist Development Grant 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2008; Award End Date: June 30, 2012 
Award Amount: $308,000

AHA/Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance Cardiology Research Award

Mark Payne, M.D.
Indiana University
Project Title:  Use of TAT-Frataxin to reverse the cardiomyopathy of Friedreich's Ataxia 
Program Type: Grant-in-Aid 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2008; Award End Date: June 30, 2010 
Award Amount: $143,000

Jonathan Silberg, Ph.D.
Rice University 
Project Title:  Split protein biosensors for imaging mitochondrial iron-sulfur clusters 
Program Type: Beginning Grant-in-Aid 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2009; Award End Date: June 30, 2011 
Award Amount: $140,000

AHA/Pulmonary Hypertension Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Swapnil Sonkusare, Ph.D.
University of Vermont
Project Title: TRPV4 and pressure modulation of calcium signaling in vascular endothelium
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship 
Award Start Date: July 1, 2010; Award End Date: June 30, 2012 
Award Amount: $83,000

Salina Garihe, Ph.D.
University of South Alabama 
Project Title: Sphingosine 1 Phosphate Mediates Sustained Vasoconstriction in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Program Type: Postdoctoral Fellowship
Award Start Date: July 1, 2011; Award End Date: June 30, 2013
Award Amount: $85,496