Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Northwestern University's Sponsored Research Division received a $1.597 million Project Grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), awarded July 1, 2026, with completion targeted for December 31, 2027. The research project, conducted in Chicago, Illinois, investigates mechanisms to improve cardiac allograft survival in heart transplant recipients by modulating mitochondrial quality control in endothelial and smooth muscle cells of donor hearts. The initiative addresses two critical phases of transplant injury: acute ischemia-reperfusion injury to endothelial cells and chronic vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching that drives cardiac allograft vasculopathy—a major barrier to long-term transplant survival.

The project deliverables include fundamental research on mitochondrial quality control mechanisms (mitochondrial dynamics and the unfolded protein response) and the development of both pharmacological and transgenic interventions to restore endothelial and smooth muscle cell function in donor organs. By reinstating mitochondrial homeostasis through these approaches, the research aims to restore cells to their original phenotype and reinstate oxidative phosphorylation-based bioenergetics, ultimately providing new therapeutic strategies to mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury and allograft vasculopathy in cardiac transplantation.