Lauren West-Livingston, MD, PhD, Vascular Surgery Integrated Resident, has been awarded the 2025-2026 Association for Academic Surgery Foundation Basic Science/Translational Research Trainee Fellowship Award, and the American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, to fund her project titled, “Vascular Tissue Engineering for Patients with Peripheral Vascular Disease and Comorbidities.”
The goal for the project is to develop conduits that have properties specific to the target patient population, with the mission of saving lives and limbs.
“Our goal for this [AHA] grant is to design vascular microphysiological systems (MPS) that mimic the effect of diseases on blood vessels, specifically diabetes, atherosclerosis, and aging,” says Dr. West-Livingston. “Furthermore, we will assess tissue-engineered vascular grafts in this system for compatibility, so that we can continue to design grafts that are translational to patients with peripheral arterial disease and comorbidities.”