Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year (World Health Organization). CVD is caused mainly by atherosclerosis, a thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery. Risk factors for disease include high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, smoking, type I diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, a diet high in saturated fats, and genetic components. Importantly, inflammation is recognized as a key component of atherosclerosis and it is classified as a chronic inflammatory disease of blood vessels. Lesions of atherosclerosis contain various immune cells coupled with cholesterol that infiltrates from the blood. Both innate and adaptive arms of the immune response have been identified in atherosclerosis with cholesterol-carrying low-density lipoprotein (LDL) triggering inflammation and antibody production.

Therapeutics targeting the immune response are currently the fastest growing class of drugs. However, the challenge of how we deliver targeted patient-specific approaches remains. Our goal with iPRIME is to reduce barriers for investigators to perform cutting-edge research on cardiovascular diseases by linking experts in Immunology, Imaging, and Informatics to drive Precision Medicine (iPRIME) forward at UVA. Since our inception and funding in 2022 we have built a cohort of over 1,100 patient samples to be used by approved researchers with the aims of discovering novel biomarkers of disease, using artificial intelligence to predict disease outcome, and determining personalized therapy response and risk.

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Myles Kim, PhD (UVA) & Katrin Nitz, PhD (Mayo) have been awarded a mini-grant of $50,000 for their work in developing a tissue/disease-specific training model in atherosclerotic plaques.
Myles Kim, PhD (UVA) & Katrin Nitz, PhD (Mayo) have been awarded a mini-grant of $50,000 for their work in developing a tissue/disease-specific training model in atherosclerotic plaques.

Myles M. Kim, PhD The LeDucq CHECKPOINT ATHERO aims to characterize the cell type specific immune checkpoint (IC) expression profiles during atherogenesis. Transcriptomics of atherosclerotic plaques helps detail mechanistic IC signaling pathways. Recently, single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) has become an integral … Read More

Jeffrey Wilson MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Allergy Department of Medicine and his collaborator, Corinne Keet MD, PhD from UNC have been awarded a $4.1M NIH grant to study common food allergens and their potential association with cardiovascular disease.
Jeffrey Wilson MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Division of Allergy Department of Medicine and his collaborator, Corinne Keet MD, PhD from UNC have been awarded a $4.1M NIH grant to study common food allergens and their potential association with cardiovascular disease.

Food allergies that result in noticeable symptoms, such as hives, swelling or anaphylaxis, are relatively uncommon. However, nearly 1 in 5 adults are ‘silently’ producing IgE antibodies to food allergens without showing any overt symptoms.  Recent work by Wilson and … Read More

Emily Dennis and Maria Muroch of the McNamara and Bekiranov labs published their work, Loss of TET2 increases B-1 cell number and IgM production while limiting CDR3 diversity
Emily Dennis and Maria Muroch of the McNamara and Bekiranov labs published their work, Loss of TET2 increases B-1 cell number and IgM production while limiting CDR3 diversity

Graduate students Emily Dennis and Maria Muroch of the McNamara and Bekiranov labs, respectively, published their work “Loss of TET2 increases B-1 cell number and IgM production while limiting CDR3 diversity” in the Journal Frontiers of Immunology, along with several … Read More

Carter Center Researchers Awarded “Shark Tank” Prize at the School of Medicine Annual Retreat
Carter Center Researchers Awarded “Shark Tank” Prize at the School of Medicine Annual Retreat

Team Erickson, composed of Loren Erickson, PhD, Coleen McNamara, MD (Carter Center Director, iPRIME Domain Director), and Justin Taylor, PhD tied for first place at the inaugural “Shark Tank” Competition at School of Medicine Retreat.  The competing teams submitted proposals … Read More

Jeff Wilson Featured in Article, Allergic Responses to Common Foods Increase Risk of Heart Disease, Death
Jeff Wilson Featured in Article, Allergic Responses to Common Foods Increase Risk of Heart Disease, Death

New research suggests sensitivity to common food allergens such as dairy and peanuts could be an important and previously unappreciated cause of heart disease, and the increased risk for cardiovascular death even includes people without obvious food allergies. UVA Health … Read More