Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded The Leland Stanford Junior University a $768,912 Project Grant (CFDA 93.837: Cardiovascular Diseases Research) effective July 15, 2026, with completion targeted for April 30, 2031. The award funds research to identify and validate genetic variants associated with cardiac differentiation and congenital heart disease (CHD). The project integrates artificial intelligence with genome engineering to elucidate gene regulatory networks governing heart development, with emphasis on understanding oligogenic interactions between coding and noncoding variants that affect non-myocyte cell differentiation during organogenesis.

The research deliverables include application of machine learning neural networks trained on human fetal heart chromatin accessibility data to identify noncoding variants predicted to disrupt cis-regulatory elements, and development and validation of a time-resolved single-cell multiome model system using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac organoids containing 200,000 cells. This model system is designed to recapitulate early embryonic heart development stages and enable mechanistic dissection of developmental processes relevant to CHD pathogenesis, ultimately supporting the discovery of therapeutic intervention targets for this incurable group of birth defects affecting approximately 1% of infants.