New R01 Grant to Study Effects of Humanin on Myocardial Injury and Heart Failure

Radhika Muzumdar, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, was awarded a new National Institutes of Health R01 grant to study the cardioprotective effects of humanin, a novel small peptide generated by mitochondria. Dr. Muzumdar is a professor of pediatrics and cell biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Dr. Muzumdar's research will investigate how humanin treatment may improve cardiac function in animal models of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI-R) injury or MI-induced heart failure in the setting of aging. 

Previous research from Dr. Muzumdar’s laboratory in animal models and cell culture systems have shown that humanin has cardioprotective effects in addition to the ability to modulate cellular metabolic processes and oxidative stress. In this current project, Dr. Muzumdar's team also will examine the levels of humanin present in heart tissue and circulation in the blood in patients experiencing heart failure after a myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury.

Dr. Muzumdar’s research has the potential to lead to major improvements in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide, and other age-related conditions that are associated with metabolic impairments and oxidative stress.

Dr. Muzumdar’s collaborators on the research include Eric S. Goetzman, PhD, and Zhenwei Gong, PhD, both from the Department of Pediatrics, and co-principal investigator, Partha Dutta, DVM, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Learn more about Dr. Muzumdar and her research, and the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at UPMC Children’s Hospital.