We are excited to announce that two of the Co-PI’s of the iPRIME initiative, Dr. Coleen McNamara and Dr. Angela Taylor, have received a Leducq International Network of Excellence Award.  They, along with other experts, will us this prestigious CHECKPOINT ATHERO award to investigate immune checkpoint targeting as a way to treat cardiovascular disease. Their team previously identified 5 candidate immune checkpoints: CD40, OX40L, CD200, GITR and VISTA, and will characterize the unique signature of these checkpoints in human atherosclerosis and its relationship with cardiovascular disease risk.  This type of therapy is currently used to treat solid tumors, and shows promise for other immune-modulated diseases, such as atherosclerosis.  They will use this preliminary data to identify regulatory mechanisms of their candidate immune checkpoints in atherosclerosis and assess novel interventional approaches to combat cardiovascular disease. This network of researchers will bring together expert clinical investigators in the fields of inflammation and atherosclerosis with leading investigators in the fields of vascular biology, immunology, antibody development and nano-immunotherapy.  We will share their findings on this site as the project moves forward!