Rajesh Kumar, PhD, Awarded New R21 Grant

February 6, 2023

Rajesh Kumar, PhD, has been awarded a new NIH/NINDS R21 Grant entitled, "Brain Metabolites, Brain Antioxidant, and Cerebral Blood Flow Deficits in Single Ventricle Heart Disease."

Project Summary

Adolescents with single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) show brain injury in regions which impact cognition that can affect their academic achievement, self-care ability, quality of life, mortality, and morbidity. However, the potential processes that can contribute to brain changes in SVHD in cognitive regulatory areas are unclear, but may include hypoxemia from lower O2 saturation and reduced cerebral blood flow from lower cardiac output, resulting to impaired brain metabolites and antioxidant levels, and cerebral blood flow deficits in those areas, as well as altered serum biomarkers.

The findings from this study will have potential implications for identifying effective interventions that could be implemented on large clinical trial to rescue/restore brain metabolites and cerebral blood flow, which could benefit cognitive health, as well as improve mortality and morbidity, academic performance, and increase quality of life in this high-risk patient population.