Kelsey Watts, PhD, (left) and Alexander Clark, PhD
Two postdoctoral research fellows, Kelsey Watts, PhD, and Alexander Clark, PhD, in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), were awarded 2025 American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowships. The prestigious one- to two-year fellowships help pave the way to research independence for postdocs who are answering an investigative question in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular or brain health research.
Dr. Watts, a postdoctoral research fellow in biomedical engineering and genome sciences and a member of Mete Civelek’s Lab, will collaborate with Patricia Rodriguez-Lozano, MD, an assistant professor in the UVA Department of Medicine and director of UVA Health’s Women’s Heart Health Care Program, on a project to investigate the effect of using a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) to mitigate inflammation in women with angina with nonobstructive coronary artery disease (ANOCA).
ANOCA is more prevalent in women, and there are currently no targeted treatments for it. Watts’s work may lead to a better understanding of how to best treat female heart disease.
Dr. Clark will use the award to study gene regulatory networks that drive cardiomyocyte differentiation as a member of the UVA Cardiac Systems Biology Group with the mentorship, support, and scientific guidance of Professor Jeff Saucerman, PhD. Using multi-omic sequencing, computational modeling and induced pluripotent stem cells, Clark will explore the distinct mechanisms driving atrial versus ventricular chamber development in the heart.
Additionally, the following three BME doctoral candidates were awarded competitive graduate research AHA predoctoral fellowships:
- Chase Binion, Kibbe-Tsihlis Lab
- Thomas Skacej, Epstein Lab
- Kaitilyn Wintruba, Saucerman Lab
These graduate students receive stipend, health insurance and project support for one or two years.
Filed Under: Honors & Awards, Research