Luke Dunaway, PhD, a postdoc in the lab of Brant Isakson, PhD, recently received a 3-year American Heart Association Career Development Award. This award will fund the final years of Dunaway’s postdoctoral training and the first stage of his career as an independent faculty member. His project, “Iron Regulation of Tissue Perfusion,” proposes to study the role of iron deficiency in chronic kidney disease. The research synthesizes his PhD work in nephrology with the training he has received in vascular biology from Isakson and the CVRC.
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in individuals with chronic kidney disease. Dunaway proposes that iron accumulation in endothelial cells, which line the interiors of our blood vessels, may be a contributing factor. Iron accumulation in these cells disrupts the biological machinery that regulates the growth of small blood vessels, such as capillaries, which can in turn lead to organs not receiving enough blood to function properly. Using advanced infrared imaging, Dunaway’s research will explore this chain of consequences, improving our understanding of iron’s role in cardiovascular disease and informing future treatment-oriented studies.
This award is another step in Dunaway’s successful career, coming on the heels of participating in the CVRC’s T32 Cardiology Training Program and a successful NIH F32 Fellowship. He ascribes part of his success to the CVRC’s mentorship and grant brewing sessions, as well as participating in the Academic Tenure Track Career Kickstarter (ATTACK), a faculty career preparation group he currently leads. ATTACK hosts CV reviews, chalk talk practices, grant review sessions, guest speakers, and more. “In science, we learn to design experiments. We learn skills. We learn science. Then, all of a sudden, you’re a faculty member and need to run a small business. You need to manage and lead a team,” Dunaway explains. Postdocs interested in joining future ATTACK events should contact Dunaway at rkq4ch@virginia.edu.
In addition to ATTACK, Dunaway credits the CVRC for enabling his professional development and networking. “It’s really expanded my network, which is great for someone going on the job market,” said Dunaway.