Sixteen Research Teams Selected for 2025 Single Ventricle Research Fund Award
July 22, 2025
The sixteen research teams awarded through the 2025 Single Ventricle Research Fund (SVRF) — which includes thirteen independent investigators and three post-doctoral investigators — embody the expanding ambition and momentum within the single ventricle research field. This year’s cohort spans a dynamic range of emerging and underexplored research areas — from lymphatic biology and hepatic dysfunction to systems-level modeling and computationally guided surgical interventions — marking a powerful step forward in foundational discovery focused on single ventricle heart disease.
Nearly 90% of the primary investigators are new to single ventricle research, a clear signal that fresh perspectives are continuing to shape and advance foundational science in the field. The diversity of career stages and research areas within this cohort reflects the power of pairing long-term field development with support for the next generation of investigators poised to drive it forward.
A majority of the awarded projects in this cohort focus on outcomes-driven foundational science — uncovering the drivers of disease to ultimately improve and develop targeted therapies. The evolution of focus areas represented across SVRF award cycles, from the program’s inception to present day, highlights the field’s collective progress toward clinically meaningful impact.
About the Single Ventricle Research Fund
SVRF continues to shape the future of care for individuals with single ventricle heart disease, advancing hypothesis-driven research that explores the mechanisms behind the most pressing complications of single ventricle circulation. These multi-year grants support foundational science that is essential to laying the groundwork for targeted therapies and accelerating patient impact.
With each successive cycle, SVRF pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in single ventricle research. This year, more investigators applied, more disciplines engaged, and more proposals targeted underexplored but high-potential areas of inquiry. Alongside SVRF’s support for established independent investigators, we also introduced a Career Development track, designed for projects conducted by mentored researchers.
Learn more about the SVRF Independent Investigator and Career Development tracks, and all of Additional Ventures’ research award programs.
2025 SVRF Award Recipients
| Primary Investigator | Project Title | Institution |
| Independent Investigator Track | ||
| Jonathan Butcher, PhD | Cellular Kinematics in Malforming and Regenerating Ventricular Myocardium | Cornell University |
| Sanjeev Datar, MD, PhD | Understanding Pulmonary Lymphatic Dysfunction in a Large Animal Model of Single Ventricle Physiology | University of California, San Francisco |
| Audrey Dionne, MD | Advancing Arrhythmia Understanding and Prediction in Single Ventricle Heart Disease through Genomics and Artificial Intelligence | Boston Children’s Hospital |
| Jesse Engreitz, PhD | Regulatory Map of the Human Fetal Heart to Understand the Etiology of Single Ventricle Defects | Stanford University |
| J. William Gaynor, MD | Elucidating the role of progesterone metabolism and genetic variation in placental function, post-operative survival, and neurodevelopment: a novel prenatal therapy for improving outcomes in HLHS | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia |
| Elizabeth Jones, PhD | Understanding Vascular Complications of the Fontan Surgery and the Effect of Mechanical Support | Catholic University of Leuven |
| Lance Munn, PhD | Modeling fluid homeostasis and vessel function in single ventricle heart disease | Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Sindhu Pandurangi, MD | Personalized Risk Prediction in Pediatric Fontan-Associated Liver Disease | University of Texas Southwestern |
| Arash Pezhouman, MD | The Role of Prematurely Senescent Cardiomyocytes in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome | Baylor University |
| Charles Puelz, PhD | Computer Modeling and Image Processing to Assess the Impact of Aortic
Reconstruction on Single Ventricle Hemodynamics |
University of Houston |
| Yibing Qyang, PhD | Dynamic Training on Enhancing Endothelial Function and Cardiac Contractility of Biological Conduits | Yale University |
| Wensi Wu, PhD | Understanding Biomechanical Mechanisms of Atrioventricular Valve Failure in Single Ventricle Patients | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia |
| Choon Hwai Yap, PhD | Critically Evaluating and Advancing Fetal Aortic Valvuloplasty (FAV) | Imperial College London |
| Career Development Track | ||
| Feng Xiao, PhD | High-throughput functional dissection of non-coding variants in single ventricle heart defects | Boston Children’s Hospital |
| Brandon Schickling, PhD | Investigating Maternal and Fetal Contributions to Single Ventricle Disease Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes | University of Iowa |
| Johnny Hwang, MD | Unraveling Molecular Mechanisms and Mechanical Forces Driving Pulmonary Lymphatic Dysfunction in a Large Animal Glenn Model of Single Ventricle Heart Disease | University of California, San Francisco |