Pittsburgh, PA, July 6, 2023 – Kejie Yin, MD, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurology, is the recipient of a five-year R01 award for the study, “Targeting Krüppel-like transcription factor for white and grey matter protection in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia”. The award is co-funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and National Institute of Aging (NIA). The total award amount – including indirect costs – over a five-year period is $3,047,330. The object of this project is to investigate the key role of the Krüppel-like factor 11 in the regulation of long-term cognitive function, brain white matter integrity, and neuronal loss in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia. The award goes into effect July 2023 and ends in April 2028.
Dr. Yin is also funded with a three-year AHA Transformational Project Award for the study entitled “Therapeutic potential of targeting miR-15a/16-1 in ischemic stroke under STAIR criteria” from the American Heart Association. The total award amount is $300,000 from July 2023 to June 2026. The major goal of this project is to test the therapeutic efficacy of specific miR-15a/16-1 molecular inhibitor (antagomir) in rodent stroke models by following the criteria recommended by the STAIR (Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable) consortium. Successful completion of this project may eventually lead us to identify novel microRNA-based therapeutic approaches for the treatment of ischemic stroke.
