Dr. Ana-Maria Dragoi and Dr. Shenuarin Bhuiyan, both researchers at LSU Health Shreveport, have been awarded a combined total of more than $5 million in grant funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The grants were given for their research efforts in infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Dragoi received an R01 grant totaling $1,788,500 over five years from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Her project, “Mechanism of macrophages colonization in gonorrhea,” aims to study how the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae interacts with the immune system to evade natural immune responses in those infected with gonorrhea. This research could lead to new ways of combating and treating the disease.
On the other hand, Dr. Bhuiyan was awarded an R01 grant totaling $3,301,740 over five years from the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for his project “Novel mitophagy regulatory mechanism in heart failure”. He investigates the role and mechanisms of Sigmar1-mediated activation of essential cellular processes macro-autophagy and mitophagy in protecting against heart failure. Bhuiyan’s hypothesis is that Sigmar1 can prevent heart failure by activating macro-autophagy and mitophagy, making it cardioprotective.
LSU Health Shreveport stated that these grants are among the 31 active R01 grants awarded to researchers at the institution. These grants will further important research being done in the field of infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases at LSU Health Shreveport