By DoM Communications | Date published: May 15, 2026

Marta Perez Vazquez Awarded F31 Grant from the National Institutes of Health 

Marta Perez Vazquez, MS, and PhD student in the lab of Lee Quinton, PhD, received an F31 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study mechanisms of lung tissue protection during pneumonia. This highly competitive grant is given to predoctoral graduate students.  

Marta’s previous work has shown that the cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is cytoprotective in the lungs, limiting cell death and minimizing lung injury in the wake of bacterial infection. However, according to Marta, where and how LIF functions in the pneumonic lungs remains unclear. With this award, she will investigate lung endothelial cells as a possible target of LIF-mediated protection. Marta has validated an endothelial-specific mouse model of LIF receptor deficiency and has demonstrated that LIF treatment is sufficient to activate signaling involving the STAT3 and Hippo pathways, both of which have been linked to cell survival in the lungs. The results of her ongoing work will provide a comprehensive assessment of LIF-dependent signaling in lung endothelium, along with its impact on pneumonia outcome.