Pilot Award Recipient: Seshagiri Rao Nandula, PhD

Seshagiri Rao Nandula, PhD has received a pilot award to study the effect of HIV medications on cardiometabolic health in African American Veterans. Dr. Nandula and his team plan to determine the effect of HIV medications on Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), as an endothelium specific biomarker and podocyte health by quantifying the exosome expression for Nephrin, Wilm's Tumor and podocalaxyn like protein 1 in urine, specifically in African American Veterans. They will assess the impact of INSTIs vs NRRTIs vs (INS+NNRTI) based therapies in veterans. This study should allow them to discern whether the medication regimens have an effect on endothelial dysfunction leading to cardiovascular disease risk, in patients with HIV.