UAB Division of Vascular Surgery Professor Bin Ren, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA, has been selected as a recipient of the Transformational Project Award for $300,000 over a period of three years by the American Heart Association (AHA) for his project entitled "Arteriolar angiogenesis and endothelial cell immunity in Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Ren earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Anhui Normal University and Anhui Medical University, respectively. He has been awarded a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He has completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Harvard Medical School, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Dartmouth Medical School before joining the faculty of Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Ren has over 20 years of experience working on endothelial cell and vascular biology in the context of cardiovascular disease, cancers, and diabetes. His research has been supported by various organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research, the Ann’s Hope Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He is currently leading an innovative research program exploring endothelial differentiation and functional angiogenesis in cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

About AHA's Transformational Project Award

The American Heart Association (AHA) offers funding for highly innovative and high-impact projects that build on work in progress and could ultimately lead to critical discoveries or major advancements in the field of cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular research.