Yang Zhou, PhD, was awarded a 5 month pilot project with the CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology COBRE at the Ocean State Research Institute. Zhou is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. His pilot project is entitled “ChI3L1and Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Interstitial Lung Disease.” The experiments designed in this proposal will combine extensive experience in animal models of ILD and the expertise from investigators at CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology Center to obtain novel and important insights into the pathways leading to vascular remodeling responses in fibrotic lung diseases.

Dr. Jun Feng was awarded a 12 month pilot project with the CPVB COBRE at the Ocean State Research Institute. Feng is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery (Research) at Warren Alpert Medical School Brown University and at Department of Surgery, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital. His pilot project is entitled Down Regulation of SKCa/IKCa Channels Contributes to Coronary Arterial Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Patients. The aim of this pilot study is to advance understanding of coronary artery diseases, particularly macrovascular and microvascular diseases caused by metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and hypertension and to develop novel therapeutic strategies to effectively treat patients with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery diseases.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded three year Grant-in-Aid funding to CPVB Investigator, Dr. Ruhul Abid. His research entitled Mechanism for differential Effects of Short-term and Long-term Increase in ROS on Endothelium will begin July 1, 2014.

Abid is a primary investigator with the CPVB COBRE at the Ocean State Research Institute and is Associate Professor of Surgery at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.