The Third Coast HIV-related Cardiovascular and Sleep Disorders Career Development Program is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Danijela Maric as a new TC-CS K12 scholar.

Dr. Maric is a research assistant professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and former Third Coast CFAR pilot awardee. Her project, “Evaluating the presence and effect of HIV/SIV in heart,” builds on earlier work that demonstrated the heart is one of the main organs where HIV/SIV rebounds in after ART cessation. Dr. Maric aims to study the localization and phenotype of SIV-infected cells in the heart, evaluate their impact on the heart microenvironment, and translate findings to studies in humans. This work has implications for both future research on the pathways by which HIV infection impacts cardiovascular health and strategies to achieve sustained viral remission with ART.

Drs. Thomas Hope and Francois Villinger (New Iberia Research Center) will serve as lead mentors, with Drs. Jon Lomasney and Matthew Feinstein providing collaborative expertise in pathology and HIV-related cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Maric will participate in career development activities organized by the TC-SC K12 program, which is a cross-disciplinary initiative led by Drs. John Schneider and Hossein Ardehali at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, with funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K12 HL143959). Congratulations to Dr. Maric on this outstanding achievement!