Dr. Kamal Rahmouni, an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Internal Medicine and faculty member of the Obesity Research and Education Initiative, has received an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. The project entitled “ mTORC1 Signaling in the Hypothalamus and Cardiovascular Regulation” is funded for 5 years beginning in January 1, 2014. The studies in this project will determine how neuronal activity of a protein serine-threonine kinase, mTORC1, in the hypothalamus controls blood pressure and cardiovascular function. The project will also investigate the pathophysiological role of mTORC1 in obesity-induced hypertension. A fully integrative approach will be used in these studies by performing whole animal physiology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry.

Dr. Rahmouni is one of just 10 scientists nationwide to receive this year an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association.