# Building Healthy Habits for Heart Health

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · 2024 · $243,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Vascular calcification is the major precursor to cardiovascular disease and is further
exacerbated by chronic kidney disease. Black or African Americans are more than 3
times as likely and Hispanics or Latinos are 1.3 times more likely to have kidney failure
compared to White Americans. In addition to Black Americans having higher rates of
heart and kidney diseases, they also often live in rural or impoverished areas that are
food deserts. Low-income areas are more than often communities with a lack of access
to healthy foods, otherwise known as food deserts. Heart disease and other CVCs such
as chronic kidney disease, Stroke, and etc are the leading cause of death for African-
Americans, more so African-American males. While phosphate is a natural element that
is found in meat and dairy products, it is also a known precursor to vascular calcification
which leads to the onset of CVCs and other complications. The levels of phosphate in
industrially processed foods and meats are found to be much higher than levels in fresh
produce. Increased serum levels of inorganic phosphate leads to calcification of
vascular smooth muscle cells and a phenotypic switch to an osteoblast-like cell. Once
thought to be a passive process of calcium and phosphate deposition within arteries,
vascular calcification is now known to be an active, cell-regulated condition. There is a
clinical need to develop a therapy for vascular calcification that reduces calcification
without causing arterial damage similar to current therapies such as endovascular stent
and atherectomy. This project will examine the role of phosphate in vascular smooth
muscle cell calcification and the potential of protein therapy to reduce calcification. The
proposed protein therapy would include reestablish fetuin-A to its native levels to treat
smooth muscle cell calcification in patients with the comorbidities of heart disease and
chronic kidney disease. Fetuin-A forms in the liver, gets released into the blood stream,
then stabilizes free calcium-phosphate clusters into calciprotein particles that are filtered
from the blood by the kidneys and excreted through urine. Through a collaboration with
MSU Extension we will work to increase the diversity of the biomedical workforce while
allowing the participants to give back to their communities and help older generations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10857634
- **Project number:** 1R01MD019279-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
- **Principal Investigator:** Chartrisa LaShan Hendrix
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $243,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-23 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10857634

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10857634, Building Healthy Habits for Heart Health (1R01MD019279-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10857634. Licensed CC0.

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