2024 PHenomenal Impact Fund for Global PH Research Award Winner
Jason Weatherald, MD
Dr. Jason Weatherald is a pulmonologist and Associate Professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, where he works in the Pulmonary Hypertension and Lung transplantation programs. He is a clinical researcher working on risk assessment methods in pulmonary arterial hypertension and patient-oriented research, with a current focus on novel clinical trial designs for PAH and right heart failure. He is an Associate Editor at the European Respiratory Journal and at the European Respiratory Review.
Dr. Weatherald won the 2024 Team PH Research Award for his submission, "A feasibility trial for the Canadian Right ventricular AdaptiVE (CRAVE) platform trial of therapies targeting right ventricular failure."
2023 Award Winner
Sue Gu, MD
Dr. Sue Gu is a physician scientist who cares for critically ill patients in the ICU and for patients with pulmonary hypertension who is passionate about understanding how the right ventricle adapts to or develops right ventricular failure in response to pulmonary hypertension. Her current research interests are on the role of inflammation and metabolism in the right ventricle in pulmonary hypertension, the biologic basis of sex differences in right ventricular function, and the mechanisms by which exercise is beneficial in pulmonary hypertension through its effects on immune cells and metabolism.
Dr. Gu received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She completed her internal medicine residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship training at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she is currently a Clinical Instructor. She was awarded the PHenomenal Impact Fund for Global PH Research Award in 2023 for her project entitled, “Sex Differences and the Impact of High Intensity Interval Training on Right Ventricular Metabolism in Pulmonary Hypertension.”
2022 Award Winner
Arun Jose, MD, MS
Dr. Arun Jose is a physician scientist who specializes in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), with a particular interest in the intestinal microbiome and pulmonary vascular disease due to liver disease. His current research focuses on applying next-generation sequencing techniques, metabolomics, and metagenomics to identify and develop novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for PAH. He received both BS and MD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University, remained for residency training as part of the Johns Hopkins Osler Medical Training Program, and completed his fellowship training in pulmonary medicine at the George Washington University. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati and Director of Pulmonary Hypertension at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. Dr. Jose received the 2022 Team PH Research Award for his submission titled, " Circulating gut-derived metabolites as markers of disease severity in PAH."
2021 Award Winner
Nicole Ruopp, MD
Dr. Nicole Ruopp has clinical expertise in pulmonary hypertension and cardiac intensivevcare/mechanical circulatory support. Her research focuses on defining decompensated right ventricular failure in pulmonary hypertension and developing mechanical circulatory support apparatuses as a means of therapeutic intervention. She was awarded funding through the PHenomenal Impact Fund for Global PH Research Award in 2021 to support a clinical trial testing the safety and feasibility of a novel mechanical circulatory device in pulmonary hypertension: Intermittent superior vena cava occlusion in decompensated pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension.
In November of 2022, Dr. Ruopp delivered an update on her research proposal during Team PH's annual virtual Research Town Hall. See the recording here.
2020 Award Winner
Paula Menezes
Paula Menezes is a lawyer, graduated from Mackenzie Presbiterian University (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and received her post-graduate in Patient Advocacy, from Austral University (Buenos Aires, Argentina). She also has the certification of Rare Disease Expert, granted by Eurordis (Europe). Currently, she is working on her MBA in Health Technology Assessment at Fipe (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
Paula was a caregiver for her mother, Maria Cristina, who was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in January of 2005. Maria Cristina passed away in 2007, but before her death, in 2006, the Brazilian Pulmonary Hypertension and Related Diseases Association (ABRAF) was founded by Paula’s father.
Paula updated the community on her research at Team PHenomenal Hope's 2021 virtual Research Town Hall. See the recording here.
2019 Award Winner
Vineet Agrawal, MD, PhD
Dr. Vineet Agrawal is a translational physician-scientist with a clinical and research focus on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and pulmonary hypertension (PH). His research utilizes a number of techniques, including clinical imaging, clinical genomics, and molecular biology in cell culture models, induced pluripotent stem cell models, animal models, and human/clinical studies to study HFpEF and PH. His current basic research is investigating the role of natriuretic peptide signaling in the development and progression of metabolic syndrome-induced PH and HFpEF.
He is specifically interested in the role of natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPRC) in cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular homeostasis. Vineet completed his undergraduate training at Duke University in biomedical and electrical engineering. He completed his MD and PhD training in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Pittsburgh, his residency training in internal medicine in the Osler Medical Training Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and his fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In July of 2020, Dr. Agrawal delivered an update on his research during Team PH's annual virtual Research Town Hall. See the recording here.
