Congratulations to Ying-Chi Chao, a Postdoctoral Research scientist in the Zaccolo Group who has been awarded a grant from the Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund.
The Medical and Life Sciences Translational Fund (MLSTF) is open to all researchers at the University of Oxford, offering unified internal proof-of-concept funding for translational medical and life sciences projects. The fund focuses on supporting early-stage translational projects that are high-risk but hold the potential for significant impact. It aims to accelerate the transition from discovery research to translational development by funding preliminary work or feasibility studies that validate the viability of a translational approach.
Additionally, the fund features a dedicated pathway called Emerging Translational Innovators (ETI), designed specifically for early-career researchers employed at Oxford. This pathway provides an opportunity to use the fund as a stepping stone toward independently advancing their translational research ambitions. Ying-Chi has been awarded funding within this scheme.
Ying-Chi explains what he will use this grant for, ‘Diastolic dysfunction (DD), the inability of the heart to relax properly, accounts for 50% of HF cases and is the hallmark of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common inherited cardiac disease, and account for up to 40% of HCM cases. I will use this funding to demonstrate target engagement and cardioprotective effect of an intervention we have developed using a transgenic mouse model that develops hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Successful outcome of this project will propel us to progress to the next phases of developing a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of both HCM and other cardiac pathologies associated with DD.’
Ying-Chi will be using this funding under the supervision of Professor Manuela Zaccolo.