# Multi-omic Biomarker Discovery and Validation in Heart Transplant Patient Populations

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $786,548

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Despite major advances in heart transplant patient management, 1 and 5-year survival rates for
heart allografts have remained static over the last decade. Advances, and cost reduction, in
various genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomics and other omic technologies over the
last decade, and the scaling of deep phenotyping and electronic health records affords unique
opportunities for precision medicine.
In this proposal we outline a number of key multiomic molecular studies and integrative
analyses to bridge the genome and dynamic physiology in cardiac transplant patients. We aim
to diagnose and prognosticate acute allograft rejection and to assess the impact of biomarkers
of post-transplantation complications including acute rejection, from the various omics across
using ‘integrative personal omic profiling’ (iPOP) developed by investigators in our team. We
outline a transformation advance in the molecular diagnoses of acute cardiac allograft rejection
within the formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) heart allograft biopsy samples, which may
change the current standard-of-care which uses conventional histopathology grading alone.
We will also assess how genetic polymorphisms impact other omic profiles in the same-, and in
subsequent-, timepoints from the same individuals through to post-transplantation complex
phenotypes such as acute rejection. We aim to investigate how genetic variants in the HLA and
minor histocompatibility (mHA) regions impact clinically relevant post-transplantation outcomes
including acute rejection and patient survival.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10373122
- **Project number:** 5R01AI144522-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** MARIO C. DENG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $786,548
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10373122

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10373122, Multi-omic Biomarker Discovery and Validation in Heart Transplant Patient Populations (5R01AI144522-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10373122. Licensed CC0.

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