Connective Issues Fall 2025

Foundation Funds 1.44 MILLION IN RESEARCH The Foundation has awarded seven promising new research grants totaling $1,440,000

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, these grants include two, one-year Everest Awards and two-year grants including one Innovator, two Career Development, and two Victor McKusick awards.

 Bharath Ambale-Venkatesh, PhD – Johns Hopkins University Aortic shape and biomechanical properties as prognostic indicators in patients with Loeys-Dietz syndrome $100,000 2-Year Innovators Award This project aims to identify a better way for healthcare professionals to predict aneurysms and spontaneous dissections in people with LDS using digital twins, or virtual models of individuals’ aortas created with real-time data from imaging and other tests. The study team will gather extensive data about the aortas of 40 individuals with different types of LDS and create digital twins of their aortas. This will allow researchers to watch the shape and behavior of aortas as they change over time and train software to better predict aneurysm formation in people with LDS.  Alexander Bashore, PhD – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Multiomic identification of novel biomarkers and cellular pathways in thoracic aortic aneurysms

“I am honored to receive a Marfan Foundation Career Development Award and grateful to the donors who make it possible. This support allows us to investigate how aortic aneurysms develop in Marfan syndrome and related conditions and to identify pathways that could be targeted with new therapies. Our ultimate goal is to turn these discoveries into better outcomes for patients.” ~Dr. Alexander Bashore

$100,000 2-Year Career Development Award Dr. Bashore’s team seeks to better understand why thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) form and progress by analyzing blood and tissue samples using advanced molecular techniques. They will study growth factors, blood proteins linked to aneurysm severity, and examine how they drive TAA progression. Samples will be collected from individuals with Marfan syndrome, LDS, VEDS,

TAAs of unknown cause, and healthy volunteers to identify both shared and unique molecular signals. The goal of the project is to discover new biomarkers to better predict who is at risk for severe aneurysms and to clarify the biological processes driving disease progression. This knowledge could lead to improved diagnostic tools and more effective, targeted therapies to prevent life-threatening TAA complications.

4

Marfan.org