AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two Augusta University (AU) graduate students have received prestigious National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) training grants, bolstering the university’s growing reputation in cardiovascular research. The awards, announced this week, will support the doctoral studies of Samuel Cummings and Ethan Ley.
Cummings, a student in the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Integrative Molecular and Cellular Biology (IMCB) program, received an NHLBI Individual Predoctoral Fellowship. Ley, also an IMCB student, was awarded an NHLBI Institutional Training Grant (T32) fellowship. Both grants are highly competitive and provide critically important financial support for tuition, fees, and a stipend, allowing students to focus entirely on their research.
Cummings’ research, conducted in the lab of Dr. Steven Ley, focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a condition affecting over half of all heart failure patients, notably women and African Americans.His project investigates the role of specific microRNAs in regulating cardiac fibrosis, a key contributor to HFpEF. The NHLBI fellowship will provide Cummings with $48,000 annually for up to five years to support his doctoral work.
Ley’s research centers on the impact of metabolic stress on cardiac function, specifically examining how changes in glucose metabolism affect the heart’s ability to contract efficiently. He is mentored by Dr. Jennifer Sullivan, Dean of The Graduate School at AU and a professor in the Department of Physiology at MCG. The T32 training grant, awarded to the IMCB program, supports multiple students annually and provides a structured curriculum focused on cutting-edge cardiovascular research techniques.
The IMCB program, established in 2014, currently has 35 students enrolled and has graduated 42 PhDs. It is indeed a collaborative effort between MCG’s Departments of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The program’s success is attributed to its rigorous curriculum,strong faculty mentorship,and state-of-the-art research facilities located on the Health sciences Campus at 1120 15th street,Augusta,GA 30912.
Mentorship played a crucial role in both students’ success. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, PhD, chair of MCG’s Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, also contributed to the students’ progress. Cummings emphasized the accessibility of complex concepts thanks to his mentor, while Ley highlighted the faculty’s dedication to scientific training and the extraordinary talent of the students within the labs.
“These awards underscore Augusta University’s commitment to supporting the next generation of scientific leaders and advancing cardiovascular research,” said dr. Ley. “Our mission is to foster curiosity, innovation, and a dedication to improving health outcomes, and our graduate students exemplify that mission.”
The NHLBI, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the primary federal agency for research on heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. These training grants are vital for ensuring a continued pipeline of highly skilled researchers dedicated to tackling these critical health challenges.
