Faculty Grants and Awards

The American Heart Association’s 2021 Clinical Research Prize to be awarded to Joseph Woo, M.D., of Stanford University

The Clinical Research Prize is awarded annually to recognize an individual making outstanding contributions to the advancement of clinical science relevant to the Association’s mission. Dr. Woo’s expertise as a surgeon includes thoracic aortic surgery, mitral and aortic valve repair, mechanical circulatory support and thoracic transplant. He has pioneered novel operations and minimally invasive approaches for valve repair and reconstruction.

Funding Years: 2021 – 2026

Funding Years: 2008 – 2024

Heart attack and its complications comprise a global health problem for which there are few highly effective treatments. As an innovative therapy, this proposal seeks to amplify the body's native repair machinery by stimulating vascular progenitor cells in the bone marrow and then specifically directing them to the heart to grow new perfusing blood vessels to the damaged heart muscle and providing a clinically viable treatment for human disease.

Award Year: July 2020 – July 2021

The Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) Pilot Grants funds innovative maternal and child health-focused clinical and translational research.

• NIH KL2 Mentored Career Development Program
  

Funding Years: Awarded Fall 2019, and runs through Fall 2021

Project Title: "Optimization of Surgical Repair Strategies in an Ex Vivo Model of Single Ventricle Physiology."

Project Abstract: Single ventricle defects are rare congenital disorders that affect one of the two ventricles of the heart, leading to one of them being undersized, underdeveloped, or missing a valve. These defects are fatal without surgical intervention, and surgeries typically need to be performed soon after birth. Staged surgical repair is performed shortly after birth and involves the rerouting of blood flow into the stages of Single Ventricle Physiology (SVP), from Norwood, to Glenn, and ultimately, Fontan circulation. Although there are variations of this transition, it generally involves rerouting the inferior and superior vena cavae directly into the pulmonary arteries, and subsequently utilizing a single ventricle and atrioventricular (AV) valve to support systemic circulation. Atrioventricular (AV) valve function is an important component of this circulation, especially as the longevity of children palliated with SVP continues to rise. While many risk factors associated with SVP have been overcome, numerous clinical studies have shown increased morbidity and mortality associated with AV valve insufficiency. The purpose of this proposal is to study heart valve function in response to Single Ventricle Physiology (SVP), with the goal of learning how SVP affects valve biomechanics, fluid dynamics, and tissue changes at the molecular level.

Awarded to the Stanford Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program
PI: Joseph Shrager
Co-PI: Leah Backhus

Funding Year: 2019 – 2023

The Stanford Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program was awarded an NIH R01 titled: "A mechanistic clinical trial of JAK inhibition to prevent ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction." Ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction is a process in which the diaphragm (the major respiratory muscle) weakens and atrophies while a patient is on mechanical ventilation (MV). This can lead to prolonged need for the ventilator, resulting in increased complications (e.g., ventilator-associated pneumonia) and deaths. The long-term goal of this program has been to develop/identify a drug that could be used to prevent this process and thus reduce ICU morbidity/mortality. The program worked out the molecular mechanisms underlying the process in human tissue from mechanically ventilated patients and in animal MV experiments. One molecular pathway we identified as being important is the JAK/Stat pathway. In this NIH-funded clinical trial, they are randomizing patients to a JAK inhibitor (Tofacitinib) vs placebo and then taking diaphragm biopsies early and late (about 6 hours apart) during esophagectomies. They are then studying the biopsies to assess for whether they have successfully blocked the involved pathways and for whether they have prevented the onset of diaphragm weakness (using a single-fiber muscle force transduction device).

The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine has selected Leah Backhus, MD, to its 2022-2023 Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH), a program is designed for senior-level women leaders interested in advancing in hospitals and healthcare systems to positions such as CEO, CMO, CNO and CFO. 

Awarded for: "iSALT: Imaging Surveillance After Lung Cancer Treatment" - VA HSR&D IIR Merit Award (HX002456-01A2)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Leah Backhus

The VA Health Services Research & Development Investigator-Initiated Research program enables VA clinicians and social scientists to pursue their personal research interests while advancing HSR&D priorities and contributing to the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of VA health care. The IIR program spans the traditional, enduring areas of health services research (cost, quality, and access) as well as emerging areas and current topics (e.g., patient safety). Most projects are multidisciplinary in nature, involving a team of researchers with expertise in a variety of clinical specialties and academic disciplines. Many IIR studies involve data collection at multiple sites, to enhance generalizability and eventual dissemination. Rigorous scientific and programmatic review ensures the high quality of IIR research, and funding is highly competitive. All proposals undergo peer review by an interdisciplinary group of VA- and non-VA researchers. Recommendations of the Scientific Review and Evaluation Board regarding a project's scientific/technical merit, as well as importance to VA, inform all IIR funding decisions.

The Dr. Dwight C. McGoon Award is an award given annually by the TSRA to an outstanding young faculty member in cardiothoracic surgery in recognition of his or her commitment to resident education and mentorship. Each year, cardiothoracic surgery residents in North America are eligible to nominate a faculty member within the first ten years of their attendingship who has demonstrated a remarkable interest in resident training — inside or outside of the operating room. From the nominated faculty, the winner will be selected and presented with the award at the STS Annual Meeting.

Dr. Leah Backhus is the first woman to receive the award in fourteen years, the first African American recipient, and the first recipient from Stanford.

Funding Year: 2019

The Levi Watkins Innovation and Leadership Development Scholarship provides up to $5,000 for cardiothoracic surgeons who are within 10 years of their first faculty appointment and supports travel to a center of excellence for the purposes of acquiring clinical, translational, or leadership training.

TSF awarded the Watkins scholarship to Dr. Backhus in 2019. In November, she traveled to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, where she studied pectus repair with Dawn Jaroszewski, MD, MBA, a national leader in surgery for pectus carinatum, excavatum, and mixed defects in adults.

Dr. Leah Backhus, co-director of the Stanford Thoracic Surgery Clinical Research Program, on winning the award: "My goal in pursuing this scholarship was to gain experience in a variety of repair techniques by visiting a high-volume center performing minimally invasive adult pectus surgery and complex reconstructions,” she said. “As the final goal is to establish a program at my home institution, it was important to also gain experience with patient selection and program infrastructure."

The Dr. Dwight C. McGoon Award is an award given annually by the TSRA to an outstanding young faculty member in cardiothoracic surgery in recognition of his or her commitment to resident education and mentorship. Each year, cardiothoracic surgery residents in North America are eligible to nominate a faculty member within the first ten years of their attendingship who has demonstrated a remarkable interest in resident training — inside or outside of the operating room. From the nominated faculty, the winner will be selected and presented with the award at the STS Annual Meeting.

Dr. Natalie Lui is the second woman to receive the award in fourteen years, and Stanford is one of only two institutions to receive this award twice.

• Western Thoracic Surgical Association Donald B. Doty Educational Award 2019
  

"3D printing for cardiothoracic surgical education: a mediastinoscopy model"

• Stanford Clinical Innovation Fund 2019

"Identifying barriers to lung cancer screening enrollment"

• The Thoracic Surgery Foundation Carolyn E. Reed Traveling Fellowship Award 2018

"Advanced endoscopic techniques for esophageal disease at the Oregon Clinic"

Thoracic aortic aneurysm is a potentially fatal disease, increases in frequency with age, and represents one of the 15 major causes of death in this county. Investigating mechanisms that cause aortic wall degeneration during aneurysm development will potentially open the door for innovative preventative approaches by providing new targets for therapeutic strategies. Discoveries from this project may translate into clinical practice and enhance the health of patients with aortic aneurysms. (May 2017)

The Stanford-Coulter Translational Research Grant Program has agreed to fund the project entitled, "In vivo testing of a 3D printed bioabsorbable external scaffold for vein graft failure prevention," led by PIs, Alison Marsden, PhD, and Jack Boyd, MD, for the period covering May 16, 2021, through December 15, 2021. The principal aim of this funding is to help the PIs progress toward completing meaningful milestones which will position the project on a clear translational path. 

In the proposed project, the Boyd Lab will create and test a novel 3D printed, bioabsorbable external scaffold (BES) to mechanically support vein grafts after coronary bypass graft surgery and prevent vein graft failure. The lab will address the unmet clinical need for prevention of graft failure, which occurs at alarmingly high rates (25% within 12-18 months, 50% within 5-10 years). The proposed medical device will offload mechanical stress experienced by the vein upon implantation and encourage favorable graft "arterialization." The BES project is a collaboration between Bioengineering Professor Alison Marsden, PI of the Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computational Lab, Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jack Boyd, and Chemical Engineering Professor Joseph DeSimone.

This award aims to foster the development of surgeon scientists in cardiothoracic surgery; increasing knowledge and innovation to benefit patient care. (July 2017)

Dr. William Hiesinger was awarded the 2022 Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) Seed Research Grant to support a project on developing SuTr, a foundational vision model for artificial intelligence in surgery.

Project title: SuTr: A Foundational Model for AI in Surgery

Project description: The operating room is a highly demanding environment in which surgeons must process vast amounts of information to make timely and informed decisions that can greatly impact surgical outcomes. However, prolonged working hours coupled with the well-established effects of fatigue on cognitive and technical performance can lead to a significant potential for error, with detrimental consequences to patient health. To mitigate these human failings, we focus on developing SuTr, a foundational vision model for surgery with the ability to provide real-time intraoperative guidance and analysis. By leveraging the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, SuTr aims to gain a holistic understanding of the operative scene to provide actionable insights into enhancing surgical precision and techniques, with the goal of decreasing error rates and complications, and paving the way towards autonomous robotic surgery.

Project period: 1/1/2022 - 12/31/2026

This project aims to develop and validate a core echocardiography artificial intelligence platform designed to extract the full density of information in a standard echocardiogram. Echocardiography is a ubiquitous imaging modality, and such a system has an immediate impact on how we manage heart failure – a disease that affects an estimated 6.5 million people in the United States alone. Using their designed ECHO AI platform, the research team proposes to build tools for surgical decision support and survival forecasting in patients with heart failure and early screening tools to identify individuals at high risk of developing heart failure in the future.

Integration of Novel Cardiac Monitoring Devices with Artificial Intelligence for Improved and Scalable Heart Failure Manage  

Funding period: 11/1/2021 - 10/31/2022

The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI  strives to foster a culture of interdisciplinary AI research in which technological advancements are inextricably linked to research about their potential societal impacts. HAI builds on the strength of Stanford research by offering multiple grant programs.

The AIMI Seed Grant program seeks to stimulate and support the creation of innovative and high-impact ideas that will advance the fields of medicine & imaging. AIMI funds exciting and innovative projects based on their scientific merit, potential clinical impact, and alignment with program priorities.

Project title: "Automating the Analysis of Echocardiographic Images for Predicting Post-Operative Right Heart Failure"

PI: William Hiesinger, Jeffrey Teuteberg
Co-Investigators: Rohan Shad, Nick Quach, Patpilai Kasinpila

Predicting post-operative right ventricular failure (RVF) has proven challenging despite decades of research. We aim to use a neural network to segment transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) collected as part of standard clinical care. The segmented TTEs will be used for the extraction of novel RVF metrics that have shown promise in predicting post-operative RVF, which will then be used to generate predictive models that are both sensitive and specific for post-operative RVF. The outcome of this research project will be the creation of a validated, clinically translatable, end-to-end automated tool for predicting postoperative RVF in patients undergoing LVAD implant.

The Stanford Cardiovascular Institute awarded the 2022 CVI Recognition Award to Ngan F. Huang, PhD, for her efforts in leading and providing educational opportunities for CVI members and active participation in numerous activities to strengthen the CVI community.

Project Title: Engineered Extracellular Matrix Cues Affecting Endothelial Phenotypic Change
Project Period: January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025

Abstract: Blood vessel cells known as endothelial cells can change to another type of cell and contribute to vascular disease. This change is associated with plaque formation within atherosclerotic vessels. A key component of blood vessels is the underlying scaffolding structure that provides physical support and instructs endothelial cells. It isn't known if the small-scale molecular structure of the blood vessel affects the changes in cell type. This Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) Pivot award supports research to discover new knowledge of how the mechanical properties of the scaffolding structure influence endothelial fate. The findings from this award may influence the design of new therapies to treat vascular diseases. Therefore, the findings from this award will benefit our society by advancing national health. The educational activities promote the development of military veteran college students from underserved communities through lectures, laboratory training, and summer research experiences that broaden participation in scientific research.

The Stanford Cardiovascular Institute has awarded Ngan F. Huang, PhD, the 2022 Seed Grant Award for the project, “Engineering protease-guided drug delivery to implanted stem cells for treatment of peripheral arterial disease.” Dr. Huang will serve as the principal investigator on the project, along with co-principal investigator Xiaojing Gao, PhD, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering.

This proposal aims to improve the clinical efficacy of iPSC-EC transplants through the design of a novel combinatorial family of engineered extracellular matrices (eECMs) with independently tunable biochemical and biomechanical cues to allow identification of optimal eECMs that promote iPSC-EC angiogenic potential. An in vitro array of 279 unique, combinatorial eECMs will be screened for enhancement of iPSC-EC viability, phenotype, and function, and optimal eECMs will be validated in a preclinical animal model of PAD. (April 2019)

This study examines the role of spatially patterned nano-scale biomaterials in enhancing the potential of stem cell-derived endothelial cells to survive and restore blood flow in the setting of peripheral arterial disease. The results of the proposed small and large animal studies will improve the efficacy stem cell therapy for treating peripheral arterial disease. (February 2018)

The goal of this project is to develop a tissue chip for high-throughput systematic control of ECM chemical composition, substrate stiffness, and mechanical stretch to identify microenvironmental conditions that optimize muscle progenitor cell survival, myotube formation, and contractility. (July 2019)

We propose to engineer a murine skeletal muscle tissue containing both muscle and vascular cells for treatment of acute volumetric muscle loss in a murine model. (April 2019)

The goal of this study is to test the efficacy of engineered skeletal muscle in microgravity to resemble salient characteristics of muscle with sarcopenia, and to apply this platform for testing drugs for treatment of sarcopenia. (October 2018)

The goal of this project is to engineer a microchip platform for testing the quality of human multipotent stromal cell growth and differentiation under varying substrate stiffness and extracellular matrix proteins. (September 2018)

The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is a membrane-bound structure found within the cardiac muscle cells. Its main function is to regulate the flow of calcium, releasing calcium ions to the surrounding muscle fibers during contraction of the heart muscle and absorbing calcium during relaxation; calcium makes the heart pump. A crucial protein that regulates the function of the SR is phospholamban (PLN); mutations in the PLN gene result in defective PLN which can in turn causes a genetic, or inherited, form of heart failure. The CURE-PLaN network will focus on one particular mutation that is found in patients in the United States and Europe. Their objective is to understand how patients with the mutation develop heart failure, and why not all patients with the mutation have the same clinical course.  Network scientists will use mouse models, and single muscle cell lines to learn more about the genetics of the disease and how to alter the SR and PLN to make heart muscle cells work more efficiently. This Leducq network will work with the PLN Patient Foundation to focus on combatting PLN induced heart failure. Their ultimate goal is to cure PLN induced heart failure in humans.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a leading cause of heart failure. The emergence of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology offers an experimental human-based model to predict individual disease manifestations and design targeted therapies. This project advances the concept that patient stem cell derived heart cells can serve as a new paradigm to fill the knowledge gaps in our understanding of how certain gene mutations lead to the DCM phenotype, and ultimately promote the implementation of precision medicine. (June 2018)

The goal of this study is to leverage recent discoveries in human genetics and technological breakthroughs in genome engineering to develop novel therapies for cardiovascular disease. This study will explore the feasibility of using new modalities, such as CRISPR-mediated base-editing, to introduce naturally occurring mutations in the genome that could lower triglyceride levels, potentially conferring cardioprotection. (July 2019)

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are newly discovered regulators of gene expression in the heart. Karakikes's team will investigate the role of miR-152 in the pathogenesis and progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy. This knowledge should ultimately be of value for understanding the etiology of the disease and they will define potential therapeutic targets for the future treatments. (December 2017)