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For three decades聽聽has conducted research at the University of North Carolina. Most of those years have been spent as a member of the聽McAllister Heart Institute (MHI), with the last seven dedicated to her role as co-director.

Dr. Bautch is preparing to step down from her leadership position on June 30. Her journey at MHI has been marked by a passion for science, a commitment to mentorship, and a vision for collaborative cardiovascular research.

As a researcher, Dr. Bautch鈥檚 early work delved into the intricate processes of blood vessel formation during fetal development, illuminating the remarkable resilience and functionality of blood vessels even in their nascent stages. Over time, her research evolved to include a focus on the complex mechanisms that regulate blood vessel growth and function in adulthood, shaping our understanding of cardiovascular biology.

Her journey with MHI began as a founding member.

鈥淲hen I first came here as a junior faculty member, there was no cardiovascular institute. There were people like me already here and well, we formed the nucleus,鈥� Dr. Bautch said.

She later transitioned into the role of associate director before assuming the mantle of co-director. During her seven-year tenure as co-director, Dr. Bautch鈥檚 contributions have been instrumental in shaping MHI into a thriving hub of interdisciplinary research.

鈥淲e have placed a strong emphasis on assembling a diverse team of basic scientists and physician scientists using a wide range of approaches to understand cardiovascular biology,鈥� Dr. Bautch said.

鈥淥ur team includes cell biologists, pharmacists, biomedical engineers, physiologists, medical doctors and others, who are all interested in the cardiovascular field. I believe it鈥檚 really important to create pipelines to integrate these professionals and for their work to complement each other.鈥�

This collaborative spirit has not only enriched research endeavors but has also fostered a sense of community and shared purpose among MHI members. Through initiatives such as annual retreats, lunch meetings, research symposia, and other collaborative events, Dr. Bautch has cultivated an environment where knowledge exchange and collective growth thrive.

The Lab Work Continues

As she prepares to pass on the co-directorship role, Dr. Bautch鈥檚 legacy of collaboration, mentorship, and innovation will endure. Her efforts have not only elevated 黑料网鈥檚 cardiovascular research profile but have also laid a strong foundation for future advancements in cardiovascular biology, treatment, and care.

Dr. Rick Stouffer,聽chief of the Division of Cardiology, will continue as co-director of MHI.聽Dr. Li Qian, current associate director of MHI, will step into Dr. Bautch鈥檚 role as co-director.

鈥淒r. Bautch鈥檚 leadership over the years has been a large part of the reason for MHI鈥檚 success,鈥� Dr. Stouffer said. 鈥淪he will be sorely missed but we are lucky to have someone with Dr. Qian鈥檚 talents to take on her role as co-director.鈥�

Dr. Bautch will remain dedicated to her research at the bench where her passion for blood vessels first ignited, ensuring her fervor for discovery and mentorship inspires the next generation of leaders, particularly women, in cardiovascular research and beyond.

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Jensen Lab Receives NHLBI Funding Renewal

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We just released a guide notice (), what we are referring to as an 鈥渦ber鈥� notice, that provides an overview of each change to help the community contextualize them as details are released over the next few months. We developed this video (25 min) to provide you with an overview of the following changes:

Simplified review criteria for most research project grants. We聽, held an聽聽in November, and are also providing additional information on what this means for funding opportunities in聽, and in an upcoming April 17聽.

Revisions to the fellowship application and review process. You may remember the聽聽NIH published last year. In the next few weeks, NIH will be releasing details of the resulting fellowship application and review changes that we are implementing. The changes are intended to: (1) better focus reviewer attention on the fellowship candidate鈥檚 preparedness and potential, the research training plan, and the sponsor/sponsoring institutional commitment to the candidate; (2) ensure a broad range of candidates and research training contexts can be recognized as meritorious; and (3) reduce bias in review by emphasizing the commitment to the candidate without undue consideration of sponsor and institutional reputation. NIH will be hosting a webinar to walk the community through the fellowship changes on September 19, 2024.

Updates to reference letter guidance. NIH is updating the instructions for reference letters to provide more structure for reviewers. Resulting letters will better assist reviewers in outlining the candidate鈥檚 strengths, weaknesses, and potential to pursue a productive career in biomedical science. The updated instructions will be posted later this fall on the聽.

Updates to NRSA training grant applications. Later this spring NIH will publish an NIH Guide notice announcing changes to training grant applications that, at a high level, include:

• Updating the NRSA Data Tables to reduce applicant and reviewer burden;
• Including the Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research and the Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity as items that contribute to the overall impact score; and
• Enhancing research training programs by further defining expectations for mentor training and clarifying positive outcomes related to preparing trainees for the breadth of research and related careers relevant to the NIH mission.

NIH will be hosting a聽聽to walk the community through the training grant changes on June 5, 2024.

Updated application forms (FORMS-I). NIH will release updated application forms to support many of the changes coming in 2025. The new forms must be used for application due dates on or after January 25, 2025. Applications submitted for due dates prior to January 25 should continue to use FORMS-H. We encourage you to review the FORMS-I Guide Notice () to learn more about the timing and availability of the new forms.

Common Forms for biographical sketch and current and pending (other) support.聽To be adopted in 2025 for all applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) submitted to NIH, the Common Forms represent a collaborative effort between Federal research agencies to ensure standard disclosure requirements as outlined in the聽. In addition to providing greater standardization across federal agencies, the聽聽provide clarity regarding disclosure requirements (e.g., who discloses what, relevant limitations and exclusions), disclosure process (e.g., updates, corrections, certification, and provision of supporting documentation), and expected degree of cross-agency uniformity (excerpt from聽). We will be providing details on our implementation and timing in the next few months.

We recognize these are a lot of changes all at once. To help the community, we have developed a centralized聽聽that we will continue to update as details of each change and resources are developed and released. We will also be updating the 鈥渦ber鈥� notice with subsequent notices related to these changes.

We encourage you to learn more about these changes, and to take advantage of the many resources we are developing. We will be discussing changes here on Open Mike as details are released.

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Dr. Zhang was a first author on both of these two recently published papers. The study that appears in JACC used cell culture and a mouse model of myocardial infarction (MI) to identify a novel mechanism of cardioprotection for alpha-1A adrenergic receptors. In collaboration with Dr. Rossi, they also found that patients taking medications that inhibit alpha-1 adrenergic receptors (鈥渁lpha blockers鈥�) had an increased risk of death compared with patients not taking alpha-blockers after undergoing PCI for MI at 黑料网. The study that appears in JAMA Open was carried out in collaboration with trainees and faculty in the 黑料网 School of Public Health and the 黑料网 Department of Urology. Here Dr. Zhang and co-first author, Chase Latour, followed up on the 黑料网 single center data indicating cardiovascular risk associated with alpha blockers (as above) in a 20% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries. They found that men taking alpha blockers (n=163,829) had a modest but statistically significant increased risk of death and Major Adverse Cardiac Events within one year of starting treatment when compared with men who were prescribed 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (n=26,039), the second-most commonly used medication to treat BPH. Both of these papers can can be read online now.

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Over the next 5 years, this funding will allow the lab to define fundamental smooth muscle cell biology during atherosclerosis and to determine how a top coronary artery disease-associated gene influences this process to modify disease risk.

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Molly and The Bautch Lab team published exciting findings showing that SMAD6, a negative BMP regulator, is required for viability and targets endothelial ALK1 signaling and junction integrity in the embryonic liver. The work was funded by NSF Predoctoral Fellowship (MK) and NIH-NHLBI R35 Outstanding Investigator Award (VLB) and is featured in Volume 150, Issue 21, November, 2023, of the journal Development and can be now.

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Congratulations to James Isaiah (Ike) Emerson, a graduate student and research assistant in the Conlon Lab, Pablo Ariel, Ph.D., Director, Microscopy Services Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Wei Shi, a postdoctoral fellow in the Conlon Lab, and Frank L. Conlon, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and Genetics, for publishing article, titled “Sex Differences in Mouse Cardiac Electrophysiology Revealed by Simultaneous Imaging of Excitation-Contraction Coupling鈥�, in The Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease.

The authors developed a novel method to simultaneously measure action potentials, calcium flux, and contraction in isolated mouse cardiomyocytes. Using this method they uncovered baseline sex differences in each step of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling in male and female mice and connected these intracellular sex differences to those seen in EKG recordings. The work was featured in Volume 10, Issue 12, of The Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease and can be now.

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