Anne B. Newman, MD, MPH, former professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, is coprincipal investigator on a $1.2 million, four-year study being funded by the American Heart Association to determine the role that inflammation plays in neurodegeneration and pulmonary vascular diseases.
It is one of three Pitt projects that are part of an overall $15 million collaboration sponsored through the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on Inflammation in Cardiac and Neurovascular Disease that includes researchers at Northwestern University’s Chicago Campus and the University of Michigan.
Led by Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of Pitt’s Vascular Medicine Institute, the University of Pittsburgh research teams will work with a team from Prairie View (Texas) A&M University, to determine how lysosomes, components of cells that contain digestive enzymes and dispose of excess or worn-out cell parts, control inflammation in cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and Alzheimer’s disease.
They will also work to develop new lysosomal medications by testing whether changes in a person’s DNA and blood related to the lysosome can predict vascular disease and dementia and response to anti-inflammatory therapy. Additionally, Pitt’s team will study cellular mechanisms that affect memory in hopes of developing new medications to boost brain function for people who have experienced a heart attack.
“With our expertise on lysosomal function and inflammation, we are thrilled to be able to contribute to and collaborate with the SFRN network,” Newman said.
Newman is UPMC Professor in Geroscience in Pitt’s School of Medicine and retains her secondary appointment in the School of Public Health, where she is Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology. She also directs the Center for Aging and Population Health, a joint program of the Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
-Michele Baum