# Mechanism of pulmonary endothelial cell heterogeneity and its role in disease

> **NIH NIH K99** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2021 · $104,544

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Candidate: Dr. Lisandra Via Ellis is a physician with extensive training in vascular biology and lung development.
She is a postdoctoral fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center seeking to understand how blood vessels develop
in the lung and how this process is affected in disease. She just published her first, first-author paper in
Developmental Cell.
Career development: Dr. Vila Ellis' mentors include Dr. Jichao Chen, a successful scientist who studies
developmental biology in the mouse lung, and Dr. Burton Dickey, a physician who has over 30 years of research
experience in the lung. Additionally, Dr. Vila Ellis will have the support of many collaborators in the field, as well
as a mentoring committee to ensure she meets the expected milestones of this proposal, and guarantee a
smooth transition to an independent career.
Research: Dr. Vila Ellis' work has shown that Vascular endothelial growth factor A (Vegfa) specifies a novel
population of endothelial cells in the lung. These cells are transcriptionally and morphologically distinct, and in
their absence the alveolar space is aberrantly enlarged, reminiscent of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In the
future, Dr. Vila Ellis will study how this specification process happens and what role these new cells play in lung
disease.
In summary, this proposal will address the mechanisms of pulmonary endothelial cell heterogeneity and help
establish the lung endothelium as a key component in the origin of developmental diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10106208
- **Project number:** 1K99HL155845-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisandra Vila Ellis
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $104,544
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10106208

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10106208, Mechanism of pulmonary endothelial cell heterogeneity and its role in disease (1K99HL155845-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10106208. Licensed CC0.

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