How coronary artery shapes form and could guide new treatments for blocked heart arteries
Official title: Intersecting clinical, genomic, and experimental investigation to understand the mechanisms and impact of coronary artery patterning
Funded at Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research · NIH-11139578 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is looking for genes and biological signals that explain different coronary artery shapes to help find ways to grow or reroute heart blood vessels for people with coronary artery disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Palo Alto, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $654,145 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL171326-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11139578 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with coronary artery disease—especially patients who have undergone coronary angiography or Veterans treated at VA hospitals—would be the most relevant candidates for related clinical work.
✕Less likely to help
People without coronary artery disease, children, or individuals who have not had coronary imaging are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this research in the near term.
What this research studies
The team will review coronary angiograms from adult Veterans to classify three common coronary artery pattern types. They will link those anatomical patterns to human genetic data to identify genes associated with artery patterning. Promising genetic regulators will be tested in laboratory and animal experiments to see if they can stimulate coronary artery growth or collateral formation. The long-term goal is to use those developmental biology insights to develop new therapies for people with advanced coronary artery disease.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to therapies that promote growth of new coronary vessels or natural bypasses to improve blood flow in people with advanced coronary artery disease.
How similar studies have gone: Related animal and genetic studies indicate artery growth can be stimulated, but applying embryonic developmental genetics to human 'medical revascularization' is largely novel and unproven.
Where this research is happening
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Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
Palo Alto, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Assimes, Themistocles L — Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
- Study coordinator: Assimes, Themistocles L
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.