HAYENGA LAB AWARDED $1.9M NIH RO1 GRANT

Dr. Heather Hayenga and her team in the Vascular Mechanobiology Laboratory have been awarded a $1.9M NIH RO1 grant, entitled “A computational model of the G&R during atherosclerosis: Integrating mechanics and biology.”

“Given enough time all individuals will develop atherosclerosis. Clinical imaging can detect an atherosclerotic plaque in one’s arteries, however understanding how the plaque subsequently evolves remains unclear,” Dr. Hayenga said. “Funding provided by this R01 will be used to create a virtual multiscale model with mechano-chemo-biological dependences in order to predict atherosclerotic plaque progression and instability. Through the integration of numerous cell-level behaviors, we can begin to understand the underlying causes leading to plaque progression. Ultimately, such a multi-scale model of plaque evolution will be insightful for individualized decision making and foundational for design changes in interventional approaches”.

The grant will span from 2018 to 2022. Dr. Hayenga’s team includes Dr. Stefano Leonardi (pictured left) from UT Dallas’ Department of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Clark Meyer (pictured right) from UT Dallas’ Department of Bioengineering.