Dr. Gang Xi, assistant professor in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, and Dr. Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, professor in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension and co-driector of the UNC Kidney Center, were recently awarded a, five year, $2.7 million grant. Their project titled, “Modulation of VSMC phenotype through the Insulin Receptor Substrate 1/Kruppel-like factor-4 signal transduction pathway: a Novel Target for AVF Dysfunction,” will be funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
The researchers aim to study Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell (VSMC) phenotype switching in the setting of arteriovenous fistula maturation failure in an attempt to develop new therapies for this important clinical problem. Other members of the multi-disciplinary team include Drs. Boyce Griffith, Yueh Lee, Hong Yuan, Uni Uriyanghai, as well as Christine Wai.