Brenda Sanchez
Former Developmental Core Manager (2002-2025)
CFAR offered a general Pilot Award program from 1994 to 2017 and funded 82 early stage investigators.
In 2022, CFAR initiated a new program: Pilot Award for Investigators New to HIV.
HIV-infected individuals are prone to accelerated atherosclerosis (ATH)1. The objective of this pilot award is to identify biomarkers that can be used to predict and monitor ATH in the setting of HIV infection. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) repair damaged vascular endothelium2, while circulating endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are derived from activated or apoptotic endothelial cells3.