Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded the University of Washington $1,697,415 under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) for a five-year project beginning July 1, 2026 and concluding April 30, 2031. This Project Grant funds the development and validation of PEARL (Preeclampsia Early Assessment of Risk from Liquid Biopsy), a molecular profiling tool designed to predict preeclampsia risk using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) circulating in maternal plasma. The research leverages epigenetic features and nucleosome positioning patterns detectable in cfDNA to identify differential placental and tissue signatures indicative of preeclampsia risk, enabling early pregnancy risk assessment (at 16 weeks gestation) without requiring additional laboratory samples or workflows beyond standard prenatal cfDNA screening for aneuploidy.

The project's primary objective is to improve PEARL's predictive performance through deeper sequenced cfDNA analysis from early pregnancy and at the time of preeclampsia onset. This work addresses a significant clinical gap by providing a non-invasive, real-time assessment capability for identifying individuals at risk of preeclampsia—including those without clinically evident risk factors—thereby reducing perinatal morbidity associated with this major obstetric complication. The research extends preliminary work demonstrating favorable predictive accuracy (AUC 0.84) and detection of elevated endothelial tissue signatures in patients who subsequently develop preeclampsia.