American Heart Association-Allen Distinguished Investigators
In 2017, the American Heart Association partnered with us to award two Allen Distinguished Investigator awards of $1.5 million each for studies of the extracellular matrix, the proteins and molecules that make up a "living glue" surrounding our cells, as it relates to the human heart and heart disease.
Meet the American Heart Association-Allen Distinguished Investigator awardees:
Suneel Apte, M.B.B.S., D. Phil.
Suneel Apte, M.B.B.S., D. Phil. is investigating how extracellular matrix is broken down in the cardiovascular system, both the physiological breakdown that occurs during heart development, and excess breakdown which may contribute to vascular disease.
Jeffrey Holmes, M.D., Ph.D.
Jeffrey Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., is studying how information is coded and stored in the extracellular matrix over the long term. His team aims to understand how these proteins are deposited and modified, how frequently they turn over, how changes in the proteins influence neighboring cells, and how aging influences the process overall.