Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Mentoring Patient-Oriented Research in Deep Lipid Phenotyping for Cardiovascular Disease - Project Summary Dr. Anand Rohatgi is a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine/Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He has established a successful and independent research program focused on elucidating the role of HDL metabolism in cardiovascular disease. His experiences as an active clinical cardiologist, translational researcher, and mentor have positioned him to be an ideal candidate for renewal of the K24 Mentoring Career Development Award. His clinical focus on preventive cardiology, especially in the South Asian population, have paved the way for a synergistic translational research program focused on HDL metabolism and atherosclerotic CV disease and a passion for mentoring trainees and faculty. Dr. Rohatgi has applied both epidemiologic and translational POR to this objective, resulting in a number of published observations that have moved the field forward with respect to insights into pathophysiology and refinement of HDL-related markers for risk prediction and as targets of therapy. This work has been supported by continuous funding from the NIH/NHLBI (K08>R01>R01), the AHA, and industry. During the K24 funding period, he has mentored 25 trainees (some ongoing), resulting in 8 first-author papers, multiple meeting presentations, two AHA Post-Doctoral Fellowship Awards, a tenure-track faculty position, and several K and R submissions. Overall, sixteen of Dr. Rohatgi's total mentees are women. In addition, during the K24 funding period, Dr. Rohatgi launched a new South Asian Heart Clinic, began a pilot prospective POR study in this population, and is PI on an R01 studying lipid metabolism in South Asians (2022-2027). The K24 renewal award will support Dr. Rohatgi's scientific career activities by allowing him to engage in professional development via coursework/training and execution of novel projects that will enhance the primary aims of his R01s and support future independent funding. In addition to supporting scientific career activities, the K24 renewal award will directly allow Dr. Rohatgi to pursue mentorship/leadership training and enhance his ability to more deeply engage with specific mentees pursuing K and R01 awards and more broadly engage with all mentees in cardiovascular training. In the renewal period, in addition to established mentoring roles, Dr. Rohatgi will be leading R01 grant workshops and provide mentor coaching to faculty applying for K and R grants. The overall scientific aims of this proposal are to: 1) Determine the contribution of genomic factors to variability in HDL function; 2) Identify disease-relevant protein-based HDL subspecies and determine their role in cardiometabolic disease; 3) Determine the association between advanced measures of lipoprotein metabolism and cardiometabolic phenotypes in South Asians.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).