{"443321":{"#nid":"443321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Blood Vessel Research Earns $8.9 Million NIH Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe dose makes the poison. Emory cardiovascular researcher Kathy Griendling, Ph.D., was one of the first scientists to show how reactive oxygen species, once thought to be poisonous byproducts of metabolism, are essential cellular signals needed for life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe and a team of Emory and Georgia Tech researchers were awarded a five-year, $8.9 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to better understand how reactive oxygen species and inflammation can be both necessary for blood vessels to function, but detrimental in excess. The team\u2019s work will explore strategies for targeted intervention, possibly leading to new preventive approaches for conditions such as atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cThis award highlights the core strength we have built at Emory in understanding how vital signals such as ROS function in vascular biology,\u201d says Griendling. \u201cOur long-standing interest in this area is beginning to bear fruit in terms of translational approaches.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGriendling is professor and vice-chair of research and faculty development in the Department of Medicine within Emory University School of Medicine. The team includes Hanjoong Jo, Ph.D., John and Jan Portman professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University; W. Robert Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and director of cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine and Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory; and Alejandra San Martin, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) at Emory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cThis award represents a long-standing collaboration between investigators in cardiology at Emory and biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory,\u201d Jo says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a well-developed model of rapid atherosclerosis induced by disturbed blood flow in mice, Jo\u2019s laboratory will investigate a potential drug target: bone morphogenic protein receptor 2 or BMPR2. The BMPR2 gene has been connected in human studies with pulmonary hypertension.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGriendling and San Martin are investigating Nox enzymes, which produce reactive oxygen species, and the Nox partner protein Poldip2\u2019s roles in aortic stiffening and smooth muscle metabolism and proliferation. Taylor is probing another potential drug target, the antioxidant enzyme catalase, which has been shown to modulate blood vessel stiffness and aneurysm formation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewrich@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"BME faculty Hanjoong Jo and Bob Taylor probe vascular research"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBME faculty Hanjoong Jo and Bob Taylor probe vascular research\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026nbsp;","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"BME faculty Hanjoong Jo and Bob Taylor probe vascular research"}],"uid":"27513","created_gmt":"2015-09-01 12:12:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:29","author":"Walter Rich","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-08-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"443261":{"id":"443261","type":"image","title":"Hanjoong Jo, Ph.D. John and Jan Portman professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University","body":null,"created":"1449256205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:05","changed":"1475895182","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:02","alt":"Hanjoong Jo, Ph.D. John and Jan Portman professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University","file":{"fid":"203132","name":"jo-hanjoonglgheadshot_copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jo-hanjoonglgheadshot_copy_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jo-hanjoonglgheadshot_copy_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":159042,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/jo-hanjoonglgheadshot_copy_0.jpg?itok=A4On2RKf"}},"445871":{"id":"445871","type":"image","title":"W. Robert Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. - Professor of Medicine, Director, Division of Cardiology, Emory Healthcare","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"W. Robert Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. - Professor of Medicine, Director, Division of Cardiology, Emory Healthcare","file":{"fid":"203149","name":"w.-robert-taylor.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/w.-robert-taylor_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/w.-robert-taylor_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":104015,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/w.-robert-taylor_0.png?itok=Zwo8lqDh"}}},"media_ids":["443261","445871"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"3184","name":"cardiovascular disease"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["wrich@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}