The 1997 Wylie Scholar, Larry Kraiss, MD is Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of Utah.
What was your FAVR funded research?
My FAVR funded research enabled me to initiate an inquiry into how endothelial cells respond rapidly to changes in their environment (thrombin activation, inflammation, changes in blood flow, etc.) by targeting translational control processes to mount an adaptive response. The prevailing dogma at the time was that endothelial cells induced the transcription of previously unexpressed genes to respond to environmental stimuli. My work has served to show that endothelial cells have a broader repertoire of mechanisms to change their protein expression. This raises the possibility that pharmacologic agents targeted at translational control points may be useful in vascular diseases.
What impact did the Wylie Scholar Award have on your ability to continue research?
The freedom of the career development type of support from FAVR allowed me the flexibility to explore potential “high-risk” ideas that ultimately yielded positive results. The work initially supported by PVRF has been leveraged to acquire several NIH research awards in which I am or was the Principal Investigator. I have also received a grant from the Lifeline Foundation.
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