Aging Research – Vladamir Botchkarev and Slava Labunsky
- Continued to coordinate interdisciplinary collaborations across 38 different labs from both the Medical and Charles-River Campuses.
- The Center hosted its Annual Aging Research Symposium in October 2024 and led a bi-monthly seminar series, inviting leading researchers including Drs. Vadim Gladyshev and Marcia Haigis (Harvard University), Laura Niedernhofer (University of Minnesota), Andrei Seluanov (University of Rochester).
- Additionally, members of the Center for Aging Research actively participated in the Research-on-Tap Symposium on the Biology of Aging organized by the BU Vice-President in April 2025.
These collaborative efforts will serve as a platform for a forthcoming T32 Training Grant application focused on advancing our understanding of basic mechanisms driving aging and translating these discoveries to clinical practice, to promote healthy aging in humans.
Amyloidosis Center – Vaishali Sanchorawala
- Clinical Research: We are proud to be a lead enrolling site for the MAGNITUDE trial—the first in-human, in vivo CRISPR gene-editing study for ATTR cardiac amyloidosis. With eight patients enrolled from our center with the principal investigator Omar Siddiqi, MD, this trial represents a major step toward potentially curative therapies.
- Basic Science & Discovery: We updated ALBase, our public database of immunoglobulin light chain sequences in AL amyloidosis, enabling global research into disease mechanisms. A major milestone this year: using cryo-EM, we captured the first high-resolution image of a patient-derived lambda amyloid fibril; paving the way for structure-based drug design; under the leadership of Tatiana Prokaeva, MD, PhD and Olga Gursky, PhD.
- Education: We were honored to receive the prestigious Amyloidosis Research Consortium Fellowship grant, enabling us to recruit a dedicated fellow to advance clinical training and research in amyloidosis starting July 2025.
CTSI – David Center
- Transforming Research into Impact: First installment in a new series of mini–Impact Reports: The BU CTSI’s first installment of a Mini Impact Report series highlights BU CTSI’s accomplishments in accelerating discoveries, reducing health inequities, and fostering a sustainable research ecosystem.View the Full Report Here.
- Jana Iverson, a researcher at BU’s Sargent College, explores how early motor development shapes later-emerging skills such as communication and language. To support this work, she partnered with the BU CTSI Community Engagement Program and the General Clinical Research Unit (GCRU). Dr. Iverson’s project, titled“Body Weight Harness Mobility System for Infants with Down Syndrome,” was awarded $50,000 by the BUCTSI for the period April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Learn more about Dr. Iverson’s research here.
- The BU CTSI General Clinical Research Unit (GCRU) and the new Clinical Research Unit (CRU) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) have partnered to enhance clinical research capacity across both institutions. Opened on November 5, 2024on the 6th floor of the Yawkey Building, the BMC CRU is designed for higher-risk, early-phase clinical trials involving intravenous or injectable investigational products. It features overnight observation capabilities and is staffed by our GCRU and BMC expert clinical research personnel. Meanwhile, the GCRU at BU CTSI continues to lead and support low-risk studies, including behavioral, observational, and survey-based research, as well as biospecimen collection and training services. The two units work together to ensure a seamless pipeline for clinical research offering investigators comprehensive support by using our Research Navigator Team to support with multilingual recruitment, regulatory guidance, rapid study startup to name a few. For more information about the GCRU, go here.
- Advancing Translational Science Through Cutting-Edge Technology: The 12th Annual Translational Science Symposium in Memory of David C. Seldin, MD, PhD (1957-2015) —On March 19, 2025, Boston University’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute hosted its 12th Annual Translational Science Symposium at the Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences. The event gathered researchers, clinicians, and trainees to spotlight cutting-edge innovations in technology and regenerative medicine that are shaping the future of healthcare. Visit our BU CTSI Symposium page. View the symposium recording sessions here.
- Boston University CTSI, in collaboration with VA Boston, will launch a Request for Information (RFI) to identify innovative research opportunities using the Million Veterans Program (MVP) dataset—the nation’s largest linked genomic resource. With data from over 1 million veterans, including full gene sequencing for more than 450,000 individuals, MVP offers an unprecedented opportunity for breakthroughs in translational science, health equity, and precision medicine. The dataset features extensive linked information, including electronic health records, radiology, blood proteomics, and more curated and managed by the VA Boston Healthcare System. Through this RFI, BU CTSI and VA Boston aim to engage researchers with novel ideas, analytical tools, and clinical applications that will expand the value and impact of MVP across disciplines.
Framingham Heart Study – Donald Lloyd-Jones
- The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is now in its 77th year of continuous study of the determinants, mechanisms, and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases and, increasingly, of other chronic diseases of aging, including cognitive health and dementia. In the last year, FHS investigators authored 173 scientific manuscripts, many in top-tier biomedical journals.
- Donald M. Lloyd-Jones MD, ScM, became director of the Framingham Center for Population and Prevention Science and principal investigator of the FHS effective January 1, 2025. He previously was a fellow and junior faculty researcher at Framingham from 1997-2003, and most recently was chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University from 2009-2024. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also served as the national president of the American Heart Association in 2021-22. His research interests include the study of the mechanisms and life course of cardiovascular health and healthy aging, and cardiovascular disease epidemiology, risk estimation and prevention.
- In February, FHS received a new $58M contract to continue study operations for six more years, including two new examination cycles. FHS recently completed the 4th exam cycle of the Gen3 Cohort (grandchildren of the original study participants). Planning is underway for the next cycle of examinations of FHS Offspring (second-generation) participants that is expected to begin in the fall of 2025. We welcome collaboration across the BU community for future exams and to leverage the FHS data for novel scientific insights.
- FHS continues to share phenotype and genetic/genomic data in a variety of de-identified national data-sharing platforms. FHS also continues to participate in a number of consortia including C4R (Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research), the Cross-cohort Collaboration (CCC), Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE), and NHLBI’s Trans-omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program.
Genome Science Institute – Nelson Lau
- The GSI awarded four research prizes to speakers and poster presenters at the Annual Research Symposium in November 2024 with a record turnout and genomics vendors contributing to a product show.
- The GSI awarded 4 pilot grant projects to test the Illumina Fluent technology and hosted 14 seminars showcasing new sequencing technologies and original genomics faculty research programs.
- The GSI maintained its strong educational partnerships with the GPGG PhD program that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the start of the GPGG to foster genetics and genomics graduate student research. The partnership with the BU Bioinformatics program also brought 14 master’s students to conduct internships with GSI faculty labs.
Military Health – Glenn Markenson
- Developed a military health research consortium with Northeastern University, and the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.
- Launched a formal fellowship pathway to support BU students pursuing careers in military health.
- Hosted the Center’s first Newburry Fund undergraduate fellow, who contributed to analysis and manuscript drafting on sexual dysfunction in military populations.
Pulmonary Center – Joseph Mizgerd
- The Pulmonary Center team published nearly 250 research papers in the last year. These publications reported discoveries that reveal the molecular and cellular underpinnings of healthy lungs, mechanisms responsible for respiratory diseases, and changes to pulmonary and critical care practice that can improve outcomes for patients.
- The Pulmonary Center added new faculty members during this last year, including Assistant Professors Andrea Alber, Chris Chu, Eric Heckman, Michael Herriges, Divya Shankar, and DJ Wallman.
- The Pulmonary Center faculty continued its emphasis on educating diverse trainees, especially predoctoral PhD and MD/PhD students and postdoctoral MD, MD/PhD, and PhD fellows. In the last year, at least 9 PhD or MD/PhD students defended their doctoral theses and at least 7 MD fellows completed their sub-specialty medical training. In addition, the Center provided research opportunities and clinical or scientific training to many other predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees as well as to medical residents, medical students, college students, and high school students.
Slone Epidemiology Center – Julie Palmer
We conducted a national search for a mid-career investigator with expertise in neuroepidemiology and genetic epidemiology. Dr. Astrid Suchy-Dicey will be joining the Slone Epidemiology Center and faculty in the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology in August. She leads aging and neuroepidemiology research in the Strong Heart Study (SHS), a long-standing NHLBI cohort study of American Indians. She will continue to lead those efforts in the SHS while initiating her own aging research within the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS).
In addition to NIH grants, we have continued to have success in obtaining foundation grants:
- Mollie Barnard was awarded a 4-year American Cancer Society Research Scholars Grant on cardiometabolic health and risk of breast cancer in Black women ($930,408)
- Julie Palmer received a one-year grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to investigate social drivers of breast cancer risk and prognosis in Black women ($589,409)
Dr. Mollie Barnard was first author of a JAMA paper entitled Endometriosis Typology and Ovarian Cancer Risk, which was accompanied by an editorial and received much media attention. Using data from the Utah Population Database, Dr. Barnard and colleagues documented a positive association between endometriosis and epithelial ovarian cancer, varied by endometriosis subtype and ovarian cancer histotype. Women with deep infiltrating endometriosis and/or ovarian endometriomas were estimated to be 9.7 times more likely to develop ovarian cancer when compared to women without endometriosis.
Goals for the coming year:
- Continue the Slone Center research emphasis on health disparities, both through BWHS research on adult populations and through clinical trials of newborns and pediatric patients.
- Expand BWHS research to proteomics and metabolomics using pre-diagnostic blood samples in a nested case-control study of breast cancer.
- Expand BWHS cardiovascular disease research to include heart failure. Increase collaborations with Framingham Heart Study investigators.
Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute
- Multiple center investigators were awarded new NIH funding. Dr. Noyan Gokce in collaboration with Dr. Schlezinger at the School of Public Health received a new R01 to study how environmental pollutants accumulate in fat tissue and impact cardiovascular health. Drs. Francesca Seta and Jingyan Han received a new R01 to study mechanisms of aortic aneurysm and potential novel therapeutic approaches through modulation of redox signaling. Dr. Victoria Herrera along with Dr. David Greer were awarded an R61 to develop a biomarker of inflammatory driven brain injury in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.
- Dr. Jessica Fetterman was awarded a Smith Family Foundation Odyssey Award to expand approaches to understand the cardiovascular consequences of mitochondrial genetic variation and mitochondrial genetic disorders.
- Work from the American Heart Association Cardio-Oncology Center led by Dr. Katya Ravid along with center investigators including Dr. Vipul Chitalia and Nathanael Fillmore are developing machine-learning based projects advancing precision medicine approaches to reduce the burden of cancer-associated thrombosis.
- The Whitaker Cardiovascular Seminar series provides opportunities to bring together interdisciplinary investigators and has hosted visiting faculty in collaboration with the Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Biophysics.
- The Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute faculty are actively involved in educational activities including predoctoral PhD and postdoctoral MD, MD/PhD, and PhD fellows as well as multiple master’s programs. In addition, learners across the spectrum from high school students, undergraduates, medical students, and medical residents participate in scientific training activities.