HI-TAC researcher Mahak Singhal receives ERC grant
Dr Mahak Singhal’s research focuses on the mechanisms of vascular homeostasis, which is governed by a layer of endothelial cells that lines our blood vessels. In this context, the scientist investigates how their resilience is influenced by external stimuli. The European Research Council is now funding his work with an ERC Starting Grant: approximately €1.5 million over five years.
In his project “DeClocking the Vascular Rhythmic Control of Tissue Homeostasis and Disease Initiation (Vascular-Rhythm),” he will study the way endothelial cells sense, anticipate, and respond to circadian changes in the environment, e.g. the change from day to night. For example, people generally eat only at certain times during the day, he explains, but not at night. That means the liver for one is more active during the day.
Together with his team, Singhal will examine these rhythmic programs at the molecular level in the endothelium of the liver and the lungs of various organisms, inter alia using computational methods and a cross-species analysis platform. With his research, Mahak Singhal wants to explore the impact of manipulating vascular rhythms on physiological organ function, aging, and the emergence of diseases.
Singhal heads a guest group at HI-TAC
Dr. Mahak Singhal is a junior research group leader at the European Center for Angioscience (ECAS), which belongs to the Medical Faculty Mannheim of Heidelberg University. He is also guest group leader at the Helmholtz Institute for translational AngioCardioScience (HI-TAC).
In 2023 the Max Delbrück Center and Heidelberg University announced the formation of a research collaboration to focus on AngioCardio Science – a new research area that combines cardiac and vascular research. The Helmholtz Institute for translational AngioCardioScience (HI-TAC) is an external branch of the Max Delbrück Center based at the campus of Heidelberg University. The Berlin-based Max Delbrück Center and the Medical Faculties of Mannheim and Heidelberg of Heidelberg University jointly founded HI-TAC to pool their expertise in cardiovascular and systems biology.
