# Characterization of vascular progenitor subpopulations for the treatment of ischemic heart disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $13,983

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Receiving this Diversity supplement will support my student, Stefan Veizades, who is of Salvadorian (Latino)
descent, in his pursuit of a career in academic medicine. Stefan has spent the last summer building his skills in
molecular and cellular biology in preparation for further training during his undergraduate years. During the
academic year, he will hone and apply these skills to better characterize mesenchymal stem cells isolated from
fat that potentially generate functional vessels to serve as natural bypasses for the ischemic myocardium. This
project is a natural extension of Aim 2 of my proposal, which identifies novel growth factors and stromal cell
subpopulations that may modify the tissue microenvironment and improve the survival of cardiomyocytes
derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells in an ischemic model of myocardial infarction. It is unclear
whether the stromal sub-populations that we identified in Aim 2 can be stand-alone therapy.
End-stage heart failure from ischemic heart disease remains a devastating disease with high morbidity and
mortality. It is estimated that one in nine death results from heart failure. Some patients with ischemic heart
disease can develop collateral circulation, namely, new vessels in the area of injury that provide natural
bypasses for areas of poor blood flow. It remains unclear how these collaterals develop and to what extent they
can protect the myocardium from permanent damage. In this proposal, we will use advanced cellular and
molecular imaging techniques (e.g., flow cytometry, lineage tracing, single cell sequencing, and small animal
imaging studies) to characterize subpopulations of mesenchymal cells isolated from fat that can produce
functional vessels in the ischemic microenvironment. If successful, these cells can serve not only serve as
adjuvant therapy for supporting the transplantation of iPSC, but also become stand-alone therapy to provide
collateral circulation to protect hearts from damage.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10026214
- **Project number:** 3R01HL134830-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Patricia Kim Phuong Nguyen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $13,983
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-03-06 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10026214

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10026214, Characterization of vascular progenitor subpopulations for the treatment of ischemic heart disease (3R01HL134830-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10026214. Licensed CC0.

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