Mayo Clinic Center for Biomedical Discovery and Cardiovascular Research Center gives Team Science Award

The Mayo Clinic Center for Biomedical Discovery (CBD) and the Cardiovascular Research Center announced the recipients of the 2019 CBD-Cardiovascular Research Center Team Science Award. The award provides funding to support joint projects studying biochemical, molecular or cellular mechanisms pertaining to diseases important to the study and treatment of the cardiovascular system.

The award recipients are:

Xiaolei Xu, Ph.D. (BIOC '03), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine; professor of biochemistry and molecuar biology, associate professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science

Their project is titled “Develop an Autophagy-Based Therapy to Treat Anthracycline-Induced Cardiotoxicity (AIC).” With the award they will examine if the activation of cellular clean-up mechanisms, called autophagy, is an effective strategy to treat patients with cardiac toxicity due to anthracyclines chemotherapy treatment. In embryonic zebrafish, adult zebrafish and a mouse model, the researchers hope to identify a mechanism-based therapy, discover a new drug strategy for patients after cardiac function decline and, from a general perspective, establish a platform for translational studies in cardio-oncology.