Santiago Moreno, a first-year Ph.D. in Biomedical Science student at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, has been awarded an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship to study the role of extracellular vesicle signaling in pulmonary vascular function and disease.
“This fellowship fuels my passion for unraveling the complexities of cardiovascular disease. It’s a chance to turn curiosity into cures and hypotheses into hope,” says Moreno, who is conducting the research at the FIU Center for Translational Science (CTS) in Port St. Lucie. His co-mentors are CTS Director Stephen Black, who also serves as Associate Dean for Research at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, and David Marciano, assistant professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at CTS.
The award “aims to enhance the research and clinical training of promising students aspiring to pursue careers as scientists, physician-scientists, or other clinical scientists while also promoting diversity in these fields. It fosters expertise that advances global cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and brain health,” according to the AHA.