Dr. Teresa Sanchez, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and associate professor of neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded the highly competitive Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association.
The five-year, $550,000 grant supports mid-career investigators who have made impactful contributions to cardiovascular science and who demonstrate exceptional potential for continued innovation. Dr. Sanchez is investigating how dysfunction in the cerebral vasculature, the blood vessels of the brain, can contribute to strokes and dementia, conditions currently affecting more than 150 million people worldwide.
Early in her career, Dr. Sanchez noticed that the cerebral vasculature was often overlooked in conversations about brain health despite its fundamental role in supplying blood and oxygen to the brain. She has since dedicated her career to understanding the molecular mechanisms driving cerebrovascular dysfunction, work that is essential for developing novel effective therapies to prevent or treat these devastating diseases.
“This is more than a personal milestone. It's recognition of our collaborative and interdisciplinary work,” said Dr. Sanchez, who is also the Florence Gould Foundation Research Scholar for Discovery in Stroke at Weill Cornell Medicine. “I see this award as a catalyst for growing and developing a broader research program in endothelial targeted neurovascular therapeutics.”
Using cutting-edge techniques, her laboratory aims to uncover the endothelial signaling pathways that contribute to cerebrovascular disease. Endothelial cells line the inner surface of all blood vessels and communicate through signaling pathways that help them interact with their environment and other cells, regulating processes like blood vessel integrity, nutrient delivery, the entrance of inflammatory cells into the brain or the formation of blood clots (thrombosis). As such, the endothelium represents a promising therapeutic opportunity. By targeting endothelial cells, they hope to unlock new avenues for treating stroke, dementia and related brain pathologies, a promising strategy that could revolutionize care for these patients.
“I'm proud of our interdisciplinary collaborations that have helped us build a research platform which integrates molecular vascular biology with disease-relevant preclinical models and the development of innovative therapeutics.”, she said.
“This award comes at a critical point in my career,” said Dr. Sanchez. “It provides protected time and resources to explore novel, high-risk areas of investigation, deepen our mechanistic studies, and translate our findings toward the development of novel therapeutics. Importantly, it enables me to expand mentorship and train the next generation of biomedical researchers to carry this vision forward.”
This award is a testament to Dr. Sanchez’s leadership in the field and underscores American Heart Association’s commitment to advancing research that addresses some of the most urgent challenges in brain health and aging. “I'm thankful and honored to contribute to the American Heart Association’s mission of building a world of longer, healthier lives,” she said.
She will be joined in this work with collaborators Dr. Costantino Iadecola, director of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute and the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor of Neurology, and Dr. Giuseppe Faraco, assistant professor of neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, and Dr. Peter Meinke, assistant professor of pharmacology and director of the Sanders Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute.