Project Grant R01HL183994

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute awarded Weill Medical College of Cornell University $936,356 under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) on June 15, 2026, for the PE-TRACT Extend Study, a prospective cohort investigation of chronic thromboembolic disease following intermediate-risk pulmonary embolism treatment.

The study extends the NHLBI-funded PE-TRACT randomized trial of catheter-directed therapy for acute PE by following the parent study population beyond the initial one-year follow-up period to characterize the prevalence, clinical morbidity and mortality, and biological mechanisms underlying symptomatic, exercise-limiting residual pulmonary vascular obstruction. The project will apply a validated diagnostic algorithm involving cardiopulmonary exercise testing, ventilation-perfusion scanning, echocardiography, anatomic imaging, and right heart catheterization to determine the frequency and distribution of chronic thromboembolism phenotypes among PE-TRACT participants. It will evaluate clinical importance through associations with survival and validated functional limitation measures, and assess whether catheter-directed therapy modifies chronic thromboembolism risk by comparing phenotype occurrence between CDT-treated and untreated PE-TRACT groups. The project will also conduct genomic and proteomic analysis of biorepository blood samples, including DNA variant genotyping at the fibrinogen and HLA loci, fibrinolysis assays, and inflammatory marker measurement to elucidate the biological and molecular processes underlying chronic thromboembolism etiology.

Performance occurs at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, New York, with a period of performance from June 15, 2026 through March 31, 2030. The award is a Project Grant assistance type.