# Perioperative Oxygenation, Endothelial Dysfunction, and Organ Injury in Cardiac Surgery

> **NIH NIH K23** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $160,870

## Abstract

This career development award will provide training to Marcos Lopez, MD, MS and help him advance
towards his long-term goal of becoming an independent physician-scientist testing hypotheses to reduce organ
injury in surgical patients. Dr. Lopez is an anesthesiologist and intensivist at Vanderbilt University Medical
Center (VUMC). He is establishing a research niche characterizing the contribution of endothelial dysfunction
to perioperative brain and kidney injury. Dr. Lopez assembled a multidisciplinary mentorship committee to
facilitate achievement of his goals. Primary mentor Frederic T. Billings IV MD, MSCI is an anesthesiologist and
intensivist who conducts clinical trials to reduce kidney injury after cardiac surgery. Co-mentor David Harrison,
MD, is a cardiologist and leader in the study of the endothelium. Co-mentor Pratik Pandharipande MD, MSCI,
is an anesthesiologist, intensivist, and leader in the study of ICU delirium. Dr. Lopez will combine vascular
biology training in the Harrison lab with perioperative clinical trial design and outcome assessments training
from Drs. Billings and Pandharipande to achieve independence. VUMC is a tertiary academic hospital that
prioritizes the development of physician-scientists like Dr. Lopez. Core research facilities, expert faculty
renowned for collaboration, and research career development programs directly contribute to his success.
 Dr. Lopez's research will assess endothelium-mediated vascular reactivity prior to and following cardiac
surgery in patients enrolled in an RCT of intraoperative oxygen treatment (R01GM112871; PI: Billings) to test
the hypotheses that normoxia during cardiac surgery improves vascular reactivity compared to hyperoxia and
that impaired vascular reactivity correlates with intraoperative oxidative stress (Aim 1), that vascular reactivity
in arterioles dissected from the pericardial fat of normoxia-treated patients will be increased compared to
hyperoxia-treated patients (Aim 2), and that endothelial dysfunction is associated with increased brain and
kidney injury (Aim 3). The study benefits from the subject recruitment, randomization, sampling, and outcomes
assessment of the parent trial but tests its own independent hypotheses, providing a route to scientific
independence. Dr. Lopez will measure brachial artery flow-mediated dilation, peripheral artery tonometry, and
plasma concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and E-selectin pre and postoperatively. He will
measure vascular reactivity in pericardial fat arterioles at the end of surgery using wire myography. He will
compare these data with oxygenation groups, markers of oxidative stress, and with measured brain and kidney
injury to test his hypotheses. Dr. Lopez will gain experience recruiting patients into a clinical trial, prospectively
collecting data, and managing a clinical research team.
 Dr. Lopez will progress to independence by completing career development training and this study. He
will initiate...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9998971
- **Project number:** 5K23GM129662-03
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Marcos G Lopez
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $160,870
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9998971

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9998971, Perioperative Oxygenation, Endothelial Dysfunction, and Organ Injury in Cardiac Surgery (5K23GM129662-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9998971. Licensed CC0.

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