# BLR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · RALPH H JOHNSON VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Stroke is the number one cause of disability in the US. This is a result of physical impairments as well as
increased risk of dementia after stroke. High blood pressure is the top risk factor for stroke followed by
diabetes. High blood pressure, diabetes and stroke are highly prevalent in our Veterans. Hypertension is the
most common vascular risk factor among Veterans with stroke. Moreover, among Veterans, hypertension is
the most common chronic condition, affecting more than 37% of the Veteran population. 25% of our Veterans
have diabetes. Despite years of extensive research, all efforts to protect neurons from ischemic stroke injury
failed. There is only one treatment for stroke and that is to open the occluded blood vessels with a clot-busting
drug. There is NO treatment for dementia that develops after stroke. Reasons for this failure may be several
fold: 1) researchers have used otherwise healthy and young animal models in research; 2) most studies
utilized male animals; and 3) researchers have tried to salvage and repair only "neurons". It is now increasingly
recognized that blood vessels of the brain are extremely critical for the acute stroke injury and chronic
recovery. When blood flow to the brain is compromised, cognitive impairment ensues and recovery from stroke
is impaired. Targets for new treatments may be different in females and/or diseases like diabetes and high
blood pressure that are commonly found in patients with stroke or cognitive impairment. This is also quite
relevant to VA mission as our female Veterans are steadily increasing among our Veterans and suffering from
these diseases necessitating the VA to launch the “Women’s Health Initiative”. Dr. Ergul, a well-accomplished
VA Research Career Scientist and Regents’ Professor at Augusta University, uses her uniquely combined
expertise in endocrinology, physiology, pharmacology and vascular biology to address these gaps by studying
the interaction of diabetes and high blood pressure with associated complications such as stroke and cognitive
impairment in both sexes. She is extremely committed to improve the quality of life of our Veterans and our
society, a commitment solidified by Research Career Scientist recognition in the last 5 years. Her commitment
to VA and cardiovascular disease research is evidenced by 1) continuous extramural finding by National
Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and Veterans Affairs in the
last 20 years, 2) her over 150 publications (59 alone during the tenure of the RCS in the last 5 years), 3)
success of renewing VA Merit Award twice during the current RCS award period, 4) receiving additional
extramural funding to address complementary scientific questions, 5) her stature as a leader in the field and 6)
the success of her mentoring next generation of scientists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10047693
- **Project number:** 5IK6BX004471-03
- **Recipient organization:** RALPH H JOHNSON VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** ADVIYE ERGUL
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-10-01 → 2025-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10047693

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10047693, BLR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application (5IK6BX004471-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10047693. Licensed CC0.

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