Home Department: Biology
Mentor: Paul Cheng (Medicine - Cardiovascular Medicine)

“Investigating the Impact of Tobacco Exposure on Smooth Muscle Cell Fate and Aneurysm Formation in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Pathogenesis”

50% of patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) die before reaching the hospital. 90% of AAA patients have a history of tobacco use. The cellular and molecular mechanisms for how smoking induces aneurysms is poorly understood. Om will work on a combination of in vitro and in vivo models to answer this question. He will investigate how tobacco alters smooth muscle cell (SMC) transcriptome and behavior using single-cell RNA profiling alongside histological analysis using ongoing mouse models in the lab. In parallel, Om will perform experiments on primary human aortic SMC in vitro for additional mechanistic insight.