13 Million Dollar Federal Grant For Research Into Vascular Disease Awarded To Weill Cornell

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Statins
Article Date: 17 Jan 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has awarded another $13 million grant to the Center of Vascular Biology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City for biomedical research into vascular disease -- specifically atherosclerosis and thrombosis, which are major risk factors for coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke.

The Program Project Grant awarded to Drs. Katherine and David Hajjar represents a renewal of five ongoing projects that have already made major contributions -- elucidating the biology of cells of the artery wall, the blood cells with which they interact, and the principal cellular and genetic changes that take place in arteries that predispose them to the formation of plaque and blood clots.

The projects will continue investigations of the interactions between blood cells and vessels, testing the hypothesis that mediators -- substances including nitrogen oxides, reactive oxygen species and growth factors -- regulate blood-vessel cell activity and plaque formation, and that atherosclerosis acts like a blood clot, forming a "response to injury."

"Perhaps the greatest strength of Weill Cornell's Vascular Biology Program, which began 17 years ago, is its record of high-quality, collaborative scientific interactions and outstanding scientists who trained in this Center over the years. The complementary scientific strengths and discrete research talents of our investigators create effective research synergies and enhance the scope of our research goals," says Dr. David P. Hajjar, executive vice provost and senior executive vice dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, and dean and Frank H.T. Rhodes Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Genetics at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

In 1995, Weill Cornell Medical College established a Center of Vascular Biology headed by Dr. David Hajjar. Institutional funds in excess of $5 million were designated for capital improvements, equipment and faculty development to support the program.

The five NHLBI Program Project Grant projects include the following:

- Dr. Aaron J. Marcus (Medicine) leads a study of CD39 NTPDase1. The goal is to understand the critical role of the compound as the prime regulator of blood fluidity and thrombosis.

- Dr. Katherine A. Hajjar (Cell Biology) leads a study of the stress response in vascular cells of Annexin 2, a receptor that mediates the breakdown of a blood clot, as it relates to atherosclerosis.

- Dr. Barbara L. Hempstead (Medicine) leads a study on the role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in the promotion of blood-vessel formation in heart-attack patients.

- Dr. Steven S. Gross (Pharmacology) leads a study of mitochondria (a kind of cellular power plant) in the function and dysfunction of eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase), an enzyme that relaxes the smooth muscle in blood vessels.

- Dr. David P. Hajjar (Biochemistry & Pathology) leads a study on the activation of the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) in atherosclerosis by nitrogen oxide and the impact of this activation on atherogenesis (plaque formation).

By the end of this 20-year program in 2011, it is hoped that the array of molecular links that define atherogenesis and thrombosis will have been identified.

Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College -- Cornell University's Medical School located in New York City -- is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious disease, obesity, cancer, psychiatry and public health -- and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious medical disorders. The Medical College -- in its commitment to global health and education -- has a strong presence in such places as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. With the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical School is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and, most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient.

Weill Cornell Medical College