# Eicosanoid Pathways Underlying Disease Risk in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

> **NIH HL K08** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2026 · $174,096

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The objectives of this K08 proposal are to foster the development of critical scientific and professional skills that
will allow the candidate, Dr. Mona Alotaibi, to advance toward her goal of becoming an independent investigator;
and to investigate the role of metabolic dysregulations and bioactive molecular markers of endothelial
dysfunction in modulating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) progression in human studies and experimental
models. This will be achieved through a comprehensive training plan and extensive laboratory experience and
course work, which will provide Dr. Alotaibi additional expertise in experimental design, laboratory procedures,
large data handling and laboratory leadership skills. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare but life-threatening
condition, that if left untreated leads to right ventricular failure and death. Despite advances in therapeutics, PAH
mortality and morbidity remains unacceptably high, motivating efforts to identify circulating biomarkers and
mechanistic targets that could improve tailored treatment approaches and outcomes. Central to PAH
pathobiology is endothelial dysfunction governed by imbalance between endothelial derived relaxing and
contracting factors. These factors include circulating small bioactive lipid mediators, eicosanoids known to exhibit
vasoactive properties including vasocontraction or vasodilation in context dependent matter. Sensitive methods
for comprehensively detecting and quantifying distinct eicosanoid species have been limited with prior studies in
PAH focusing mainly on cyclooxygenase pathway. We have shown that distinct lipoxygenase (LOX)-eicosanoid
dysregulations exist in animal models with severe pulmonary hypertension and these metabolites associated
with mortality and worse clinical outcomes in human. The overall goal of this proposal is to utilize our newly
developed mass spectrometry approaches together with comprehensive, complementary study design that
i

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11249648
- **Project number:** 5K08HL166950-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Mona A Alotaibi
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** HL
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $174,096
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2024-01-01T00:00:00 → 2028-12-31T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11249648

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11249648, Eicosanoid Pathways Underlying Disease Risk in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (5K08HL166950-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11249648. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*