August 3, 2018

Dr. Marco Hefti received a KL2 award entitled “Novel Tau-Based Diagnostics for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury.” This project is focused on understanding the developmental role of the tau protein and its relationship to early life hypoxic-ischemic injury, particularly in infants and children with congenital heart malformations. The tau protein is best known for its role in Alzheimer’s and other related neurodegenerative disorders, but it undergoes dramatic changes in phosphorylation and splicing during development and in response to hypoxia. The long term goal is to provide insights into the pathogenesis of long-term neurologic disability in children with prematurity, birth injury and congenital heart disease, as well as identify candidate biomarkers that can help guide therapy and predict outcomes.

The KL2 program is administered by the University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. The award provides up to 3 years of salary and supply support for early-career investigators to prepare them to apply for a NIH K- or R-grant. It is intended to foster the development of outstanding scientists and enable them to expand their potential to make significant contributions to translational biomedical research.