By Cristina D’Imperio
Kanhaiya Singh, PhD, McGowan faculty, has had a proposal recommended for funding by the Department of Defense (DoD) office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
Dr. Singh’s award is anticipated to be funded with FY23 funds, which will extend until September 30, 2029.
His proposal is titled “Endothelial-Targeted Metallothionein Gene Editing to Enable VEGF Therapy in Rescuing Diabetic Pressure Ulcer.”
Dr. Singh’s laboratory focuses on epigenetics of diabetic vasculopathy and wound healing.
His laboratory is investigating epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation as a proxy for abnormal gene–environmental interactions in diabetic ischemic wounds. The lab’s current line of study aims to develop a simple and point-of-care approach to achieve targeted epigenetic editing of adult diabetic ischemic tissue in vivo.
His laboratory is also investigating the molecular mechanism in diabetic vasculopathy and limb ischemia. Researchers are applying single-cell RNA sequencing technology to study the endothelial cells of the human diabetic skin in order to identify novel ligands and receptors that can improve outcomes of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. To that end, his team is employing tissue nanotransfection technology as a delivery platform to administer combination gene therapy for diabetic ischemic limb rescue.