Project Grant R01HL185244

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded the University of Washington $777,814 on August 15, 2026, to develop computational methods for enhanced clinical use of single-cell data under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837).

The award funds development of novel analytical frameworks to extract clinically actionable biomarkers from single-cell data generated by flow cytometry and other clinical technologies. The project addresses three gaps in current methodology: generating clinically actionable biomarkers from single-cell data, tracking patient-specific cellular dynamics throughout clinical care, and integrating single-cell data with broader clinical inputs through multi-modal modeling. Specific aims include developing a novel biomarker generation framework using unsupervised clustering and self-supervised embedding models; establishing methods to track patient-specific cellular dynamics; and creating multi-modal approaches that combine single-cell data with additional clinical variables.

The project leverages a unique data resource—a large-scale archive of raw flow cytometry files underlying blood count testing at a major U.S. medical center—to develop robust methods for enhanced use of the complete blood count, the most commonly collected blood test worldwide. The recipient will supplement this institutional data with multiple open-source clinical single-cell datasets reflecting diverse patient samples and clinical challenges to ensure methodologic generality.

The University of Washington, Office of Sponsored Programs, is the recipient. Performance occurs in Seattle, Washington, with work extending through April 30, 2031.