NYITCOM Researcher Awarded $573K NIH Grant for Heart Disease Study

JONESBORO, Ark. — A researcher at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University has received a $573,750 federal grant to study how thyroid dysfunction affects cardiovascular health.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the R15 grant to Vishwa Rajagopalan, Ph.D., an associate professor of biomedical and anatomical sciences at NYITCOM at A-State.

The funding will allow Rajagopalan to expand his cardiovascular research program and investigate how thyroid hormones affect heart health. The project will focus on noncoding RNAs, molecules that help regulate biological processes but do not produce proteins.

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“Thyroid dysfunction is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and, in some patient populations, a higher rate of deaths,” Rajagopalan said. “The available treatment modalities alone can be insufficient to manage the complex cardiovascular disease. The intent of this project is to better understand the molecular mechanisms and biomechanics of what’s happening so we can find novel and safe RNA-based therapies and improve treatments for CVD.”

Rajagopalan conducts his research at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute on the A-State campus in Jonesboro. Medical students from NYITCOM and biological sciences and engineering students from A-State will have opportunities to participate in the project.

Robert “Drew” Fleming, Ph.D., an associate professor of mechanical engineering at A-State, will serve as a significant contributor to the research.

“Our research faculty continue to do outstanding work, and we’re delighted to once again see that recognized through significant federal funding,” said Shane Speights, D.O., dean of NYITCOM at A-State. “Congratulations to Dr. Rajagopalan on yet another well-deserved award.”

Earlier this year, Rajagopalan was named a fellow of the American Heart Association in recognition of his cardiovascular research. He joined NYITCOM in 2012 and moved to Jonesboro when its Arkansas campus opened in 2016.

Rajagopalan began his career at the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, where India’s heart transplant program was pioneered. He received clinical and cardiothoracic training and earned a degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science before completing postdoctoral training at Stanford University Medical Center.

The research is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH under award number R15HL173850.

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