Project Grant R21HL186484

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Vanderbilt University Medical Center $471,280 on August 10, 2026, under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) to develop and validate in silico and in vitro modeling platforms for comparing surgical repair strategies in atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD).

The research will create matched computational and laboratory-based functional models of atrioventricular valves from AVSD patients to identify optimal surgical repair strategies and reduce long-term morbidity and mortality. Work encompasses three specific aims: development of finite element computational models of AV valve mechanical function and flow dynamics using echocardiographic and cross-sectional imaging from patients with partial, transitional, and complete AVSD; fabrication of AV valves using double-component deposition methodology that replicates native valve mechanical properties; and in vitro validation of valve performance metrics using a pulse-duplicator system. The project runs through July 31, 2028, and is performed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Forest Hills, Tennessee. This is a project grant, the primary assistance type for investigator-initiated research under the NHLBI program.