# Clonal hematopoiesis and accelerated metabolic dysfunction in obesity

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2020 · $534,760

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The accumulation of somatic DNA mutations over time is a hallmark of aging in many tissues. However, the
causal role of somatic mutations in age-associated disorders other than cancer is a matter of debate, and
remains unexplored in the setting of metabolic disease. Recent large exome sequencing studies in humans
have shown that aging is inevitably associated with an increased frequency of somatic mutations in the
hematopoietic system, which provide a competitive growth advantage to the mutant cell and thus allow its
clonal expansion (clonal hematopoiesis). Unexpectedly, these somatic mutations were associated with a
higher rates of cardio-metabolic disease, suggesting a previously unrecognized link between somatic
mutations in bone marrow-derived cells and these disease processes. However, whether there is a
causal connection between these somatic mutations and metabolic dysfunction remains unclear and the
potential underlying mechanisms are unknown, and this is the scientific premise of the proposed research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9898439
- **Project number:** 5R01HL139819-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** KENNETH WALSH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $534,760
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9898439

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9898439, Clonal hematopoiesis and accelerated metabolic dysfunction in obesity (5R01HL139819-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9898439. Licensed CC0.

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