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Researching pulmonary hypertension is a passion for Assistant Professor Yuanjun “Steve” Shen. Since coming to the ������Ƶ School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SOPPS) in January 2025, it’s been his main area of research. Now, students are sharing his enthusiasm and contributing to the work as well.

Shen’s lab is a pulmonary disease research lab, specifically focusing on pulmonary hypertension. The condition affects the blood vessels in the lungs and develops when the blood pressure in your lungs is higher than normal. This can damage the heart and cause such as shortness of breath, chest pain and lightheadedness. , about 1% of people globally have pulmonary hypertension.

“Currently, there is only one FDA-approved curative treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, but it only works for a very small percentage of patients,” Shen said. “We’re trying to identify new therapies for it. Right now, our work is centered on a specific protein called VPS34, which we hope could serve as a future drug target.”

Thanks to a yearly $244,589 grant (R00HL166763, three years) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), their lab will continue this research and cover future developments.

“The NIH — and in this case the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) — focuses on improving patient health,” Shen said. “It is an honor to receive NHLBI’s prestigious R00 grant. Our work funded by this grant is important for understanding the full picture of pulmonary vascular disease, with pulmonary hypertension as one important part of that.”

The lab works on two main areas of research. The first is cell culture, using primary cells either from healthy donors or pulmonary hypertension patients. They receive these cells through the NIH-funded Pulmonary Hypertension Breakthrough Initiative, which collects and distributes samples across the U.S.

“This clearly showed the importance of inter-institutional collaborations,” Shen said.

The cell culture studies allow the Shen Lab to use the cutting-edge technologies provided by ������Ƶ and SOPPS to explore the molecular biological mechanisms behind the progression of pulmonary hypertension.

“Our work typically benefits from the equipment at the University and the school, such as mass spectrometry-based analysis, spatial proteomics, and confocal microscopy,” Shen said.

The second research area is animal work. They use traditional oxygen-depriving methods to induce experimental modes of pulmonary hypertension in rodents, and they also develop new animal models with different genetic modifications to investigate disease mechanisms in live animals and test potential therapies.

“We hope these animal models can improve the resemblance between an animal model and the clinical conditions,” Shen said. “Obviously, we cannot directly perform experiments on patients. While our research is not clinical yet, it has strong potential to be translated into clinical applications, especially if we can identify fundamental mechanisms that could be targeted for drug development.”

Shen says this work has been very rewarding, not only for himself but for his students as well.

One of their undergraduate research assistants, Benjamin Reinhard, joined through the SOPPS Summer Internship Research program. Shen was impressed by Reinhard’s work as he carried out immunohistochemical analysis, using fluorescent staining to detect proteins of interest in mouse and human lung tissue slides.

“His results were very promising,” Shen said, “showing that a treatment we proposed reduced extracellular matrix remodeling in animal models of pulmonary hypertension, which could help reverse the disease progression or at least lessen some patient symptoms.”

Reinhard hopes to pursue a career in medicine, and this experience has been meaningful to him because much of what they’re doing is similar to the work pathologists do.

“I’ve learned a lot about different microscopic and fluorescence techniques, which I find really fascinating,” Reinhard said. “It’s exciting to actually observe a disease on the pathological level. It’s given me a deeper appreciation for how disease can be studied under the microscope.”

Felix Aung, third-year pharmacy student (P3), is focusing on analysis and lab techniques while studying in Shen’s lab. He’s also working on his capstone project in the lab and is studying a specific protein that may be linked to VPS34 regulation. His findings could help us better understand disease mechanisms and identify new drug targets for patients.

“Right now, one of my main responsibilities is to find proteins that are responsible for pulmonary hypertension progression. These proteins could be targets for future drug development, ” Aung said. “I’m also working on analyzing results, drafting sections for potential publications, and collaborating closely with Assistant Professor Shen and the lab technicians.”

When it comes to the experience, Aung shared how great it has been and how supportive Shen has been every step of the way: “I really enjoy doing hands-on work and being able to apply what I’ve learned in textbooks to basic science research.”

Aung plans on pursuing a career in cardiology once his time at SOPPS is over, so he feels it’s important to learn about the pathology behind diseases and the steps involved before medications are prescribed or administered.

“I also have a strong interest in rare diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, which I’m currently focusing on,” Aung said. “Since this disease is rarely studied and its mechanisms aren’t fully understood, it’s exciting for me to contribute to an area where there’s still a lot to uncover.”

Reinhard added that one of the best parts of the experience has been the ability to explore different directions in his research.

“Shen has given me a lot of autonomy to explore, which has helped me be productive and really take ownership of my work,” Reinhard said. “That independence has made the experience especially rewarding.”

Currently, there are two technicians, one pharmacy student and three undergraduate students working in Shen’s lab. Research opportunities are open for qualified undergraduate, master’s and pharmacy students.

“We also hope to initiate more collaborative research in the University and other institutions,” Shen said.