Dr. Tim Allerton, Assistant Professor and Director of the Vascular Metabolism Laboratory at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant of up to $3.6 million to investigate a novel approach to treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the fastest-growing and most common form of heart failure in the United States.

The five-year award from the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute will support research focused on understanding the biological mechanisms that contribute to exercise intolerance and reduced physical function in individuals with HFpEF. While patients with HFpEF maintain a normal pumping capacity of the heart, the condition impairs the heart’s ability to relax and fill properly, leading to symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and difficulty with physical activity.

Building on previous findings from his laboratory, Dr. Allerton’s research will examine the role of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), a naturally occurring molecule involved in regulating metabolism, blood flow and cardiovascular health. His team will investigate how declining H₂S levels contribute to skeletal muscle dysfunction and reduced exercise capacity in HFpEF and evaluate a first-of-its-kind therapeutic strategy designed to restore healthy muscle metabolism.

Dr. Allerton is a past LA CaTS Center pilot grants awardee (Round 10). His project is titled "The Role of Hydrogen Sulfide in Adipose Tissue Microvascular Function in Obesity-Associated Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction". The project conducted metabolic phenotyping (insulin sensitivity, body composition, metabolic rate) on a cohort of obese patients with and without heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and measured an important vasoactive gas, hydrogen sulfide, in the plasma and adipose tissue to better understand its role in the obese-HFpEF phenotype.

See press release here.