Project Grant R01HL183945

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Rutgers The State University of New Jersey $631,413 on August 1, 2026, as a Project Grant (R01HL183945) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837).

The award funds research investigating the role of lipotoxicity-induced splenic cell alternative splicing in obesity cardiomyopathy. The study examines how fatty acid-induced alternative splicing of the BCL2L1 gene in the spleen contributes to the development of obesity cardiomyopathy, a condition characterized by cardiac hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, excessive fibrosis, and abnormal metabolic shifts toward uncontrolled fatty acid metabolism. Using unique mouse models incorporating BCL-XS knockout and diet-induced obesity, the research will employ physiological and multi-omics approaches—including single-cell RNA sequencing and proteomics—to test the hypothesis that fatty acid-induced BCL2L1 alternative splicing in the spleen inhibits B cell activation by suppressing asparagine metabolism, thereby mitigating cardiac inflammation. The work operates under the theory that understanding lipotoxicity mechanisms in tissues beyond the heart will advance development of targeted therapeutics for obesity cardiomyopathy, which develops independently from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

Rutgers receives the award through its School of Nursing, doing business as RBHS-School of Nursing, a division of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Sciences organization. Place of performance is Newark, New Jersey. The period of performance runs from August 1, 2026, through April 30, 2030.