Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received a $554,085 Project Grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), awarded July 15, 2026, with completion targeted for March 31, 2030. The research project, titled "Interconnecting Actin Dynamics and Cardiac Metabolic Homeostasis," investigates the mechanisms by which defective mitochondrial clearance (mitophagy) contributes to cardiometabolic and neuromuscular diseases including heart failure and Parkinson's disease. The funded research will examine how filamentous and branched actin structures dynamically regulate mitochondrial quality control and metabolic efficiency in cardiac cells, with particular focus on the GRAF1 protein's role in coordinating protective branched actin remodeling and PINK1-dependent mitochondrial clearance pathways.

The project deliverables encompass mechanistic research findings on spatio-temporal regulation of mitochondrial-associated actin dynamics and their contribution to metabolic homeostasis in specialized cardiac cells (cardiomyocytes). Research outputs will advance understanding of how first-responder proteins such as GRAF1 and WAVE2 coordinate protective actin remodeling with metabolic enzyme function in response to mitochondrial dysfunction, with potential translational implications for therapeutic intervention in heart failure and related diseases. The work will be performed at the Chapel Hill, North Carolina location and represents part of NHLBI's broader portfolio supporting hypothesis-driven basic and translational cardiovascular research across the United States.