CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia, March 08, 2010 -- HemoShear LLC, developer of innovative, cell-based, human surrogate models for discovery and assessment of new drug compounds, is pleased to announce that Brian Wamhoff, Ph.D., HemoShear’s co-founder and Vice-President of Research and Development, has been awarded the 2010 American Physiological Society’s New Investigator Award for Cardiovascular Research.
The annual merit-based award bestowed by APS—a 10,000 member-strong nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education and scientific research in physiological sciences—recognizes outstanding contributions made to the field of cardiovascular study by up-and-coming researchers in the early stages of their careers.
“I am excited and honored to receive this award and look forward to continuing important research to help further understand and treat vascular diseases,” said Dr. Wamhoff. He will present an abstract of his work that focuses on the role of sphingolipids in vascular injury at APS’s Experimental Biology Conference, April 24 – 28, in Anaheim, California.
A tenure-track assistant professor in the Cardiovascular Division of the University of Virginia’s Department of Medicine, Dr. Wamhoff’s laboratory leads research that studies fundamental mechanisms regulating smooth muscle cell biology in vascular disease.
In 2008, Dr. Wamhoff helped co-found HemoShear using proprietary technology he developed with another UVA scientist, Brett Blackman, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at HemoShear.
“Brian is a star researcher and deserves every bit of recognition for his dedicated work that has led to many discoveries,” said Jim Powers, CEO and President of HemoShear. “Brian and Brett’s research is the cornerstone for our breakthrough technology.” The HemoShear technology is focused on improving pharmaceutical scientists’ ability to identify new targets of disease and to discover compounds that have a greater likelihood of successful treatment in humans.
Dr. Wamhoff has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2008 Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) Irvine Page Award. He has filed more than 15 patents, and authored or coauthored more than 40 publications. Dr. Wamhoff serves as peer reviewer for more than 10 major scientific journals and a grant reviewer for the American Heart Association.
About HemoShear, LLC
HemoShear’s proprietary technology recreates physiological function of human cells and tissue by applying human-derived blood flow forces to cultures of primary human vascular cells in the laboratory. HemoShear works in strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to identify and validate pathways of disease progression, and to assess the efficacy and safety of new drug compounds. The company’s breakthrough technology will reduce risk of costly drug development failures significantly while speeding successful new drugs to market. For information, please visit www.hemoshear.com.
About The American Physiological Society
The American Physiological Society (APS) is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research, and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. Founded in 1887 with 28 members, the Society now has over 10,500 members. Most members have doctoral degrees in physiology and/or medicine (or other health professions). The Society is based in Bethesda, Maryland, on the campus of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). For more information, visit www.the-aps.org.
