A multidisciplinary team led by Jonathan Lindner, MD, the Frances Myers Ball Professor of Medicine and Vice-chief for Research in the Cardiology Division, was awarded a $3.5M R01 grant from the NIH to develop novel therapies for preventing aortic stenosis. The research team will use advanced non-invasive imaging in pre-clinical gene-modified models and in humans to evaluate fundamental questions on the pathobiology of aortic stenosis involving shear stress, platelet adhesion, and platelet signaling. The team will use this information to develop novel therapies that can prevent progressive valve thickening and calcification once early abnormalities are detected. Collaborators on the team include Jose Lopez, MD of BloodWorks NW who specializes in platelet biology, and James Thomas, MD, of Northwestern University who specializes in valve hemodynamics. These studies led by Dr. Lindner, who just recently returned to the University of Virginia after 16 years, compliment other NIH-funded studies evaluating the role of platelets and thrombo-inflammation in atherosclerosis and microvascular thrombosis.

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