The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded seven new grants to Cornell researchers to help fight heart disease and stroke, the No. 1 and No. 3 causes of death in the United States. In addition, six Cornell researchers already have funding from the AHA.

The researchers with new grants are:

• Huai-hu Chuang, assistant professor of molecular physiology, whose research, "Mechanistic analysis of oxidative modulation of TRPV1," received a scientist development grant totaling $198,000 over three years.
• Cynthia Reinhart-King, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, whose research, "Regulation of endothelial cell function by extracellular matrix elasticity," received a scientist development grant for $198,000 over three years.
• Moonsoo Jin, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, whose research, "VLA-4 (a4b1 integrin) activation-specific antagonist," received a scientist development grant for $308,000 over four years.
• Jonathan Butcher, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, whose research, "The biomechanical regulation of valvulogenesis," received a scientist development grant for $308,000 over four years.
• Suraj Saksena, postdoctoral research associate in the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, whose project, "ESCRTing Receptor Downregulation," received a postdoctoral fellowship award for $87,000 over two years.
• David Infanger, graduate student in biomedical sciences, whose project, "Molecular redox mechanisms of central neuro-cardiovascular dysfunction in heart failure," received a predoctoral fellowship for $21,000 over one year.
• Raga Krishnakumar, graduate student in molecular biology and genetics, whose project, "Investigating the role of Poly(ADP) ribose polymerase in the regulation of gene expression in cardiomyocytes," received a predoctoral fellowship for $42,000 over two years.