Dr. Yan-Ting Shiu Awarded NHLBI R01 for Autophagy and Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation
The Division of Nephrology & Hypertension congratulates Dr. Yan-Ting Shiu for her new R01 obtained through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for her project, “Autophagy and Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation." This project is funded for $2.15 million dollars from 6/1/21-4/30/25.
Project Overview
The vascular access is the lifeline for hemodialysis patients and the single most important component of the hemodialysis procedure. The most common etiology of vascular access dysfunction in hemodialysis patients is failure of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) to mature successfully for dialysis use. At present, there remains a very high rate of AVF maturation failure in the United States and there are no effective treatments to enhance AVF maturation.
This R01 grant is a Multiple-PI collaborative project between the Shiu Lab and Dr. J. Dave Symons in the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology at the University of Utah and Dr. Timmy Lee in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Using a combination of cell culture, animal, and human studies, we will investigate a new paradigm in AVF development, autophagy. Successful completion of this study will identify important targets for developing innovative therapies that aim to modify autophagy in order to enhance AVF maturation.