Sex and estrogen effects on radiation-related heart damage
Official title: Elucidating Sex Differences in Radiation-induced Cardiotoxicity with Cell Village iPSCs
Funded at Stanford University · NIH-11141873 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how estrogen and genetic differences change how people's hearts respond to radiation using lab-grown human heart tissues and animal models.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Stanford University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stanford, United States) |
| Project start | July 19, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $550,479 |
| NIH project number | 5U01AI183953-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141873 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants would be people willing to donate biological samples (like blood or skin cells) for iPSC generation, especially those with prior radiation exposure or concern about radiation-related heart effects.
✕Less likely to help
People with heart conditions unrelated to radiation exposure or those unwilling to provide biological samples are unlikely to directly benefit from participating.
What this research studies
Researchers will grow tiny 3D human heart tissues from induced pluripotent stem cells made from a diverse group of 200 people and pool them into a “cell village.” They will expose these cardiac organoids to different doses of radiation and estrogen to mimic real-life exposures. Single-cell genomic and epigenomic tools will be used to read how individual cells and different people respond, and animal experiments will help link those molecular signals to whole‑organism heart effects. The goal is to spot genetic and sex-related patterns that explain why some people develop radiation-induced heart damage while others do not.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal sex- and genetics-based markers that predict who is most at risk of heart damage after radiation and guide targeted prevention or treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has used iPSC-derived heart cells and organoids to model drug and toxicity responses, but combining a pooled 200-person “cell village” with estrogen-genotype analysis for radiation cardiotoxicity is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Stanford University
Stanford, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wu, Joseph C. — Stanford University
- Study coordinator: Wu, Joseph C.
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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.