Q&A with Tamanna Islam: Studying a New Target for Treating High Blood Pressure in the Lungs

For graduate student Tamanna Islam, science is the key to solving the universe’s unanswered questions. “Through scientific knowledge, it is possible to unlock all the hidden mysteries that no one can explain through just observation,” she said.

Growing up in a family that prioritized science and math, Islam naturally found herself drawn toward those subjects and is now pursuing her PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Utah. She received a 2024 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship in Drug Discovery for her research to develop new drugs that would stop or reverse harmful changes that occur in blood vessels in the lungs of people with high blood pressure (pulmonary arterial hypertension).

In pulmonary arterial hypertension, smooth muscle cells abnormally accumulate and thicken the blood vessel walls in a section of the arteries that usually does not have smooth muscle cells. This increases the blood pressure, forcing the heart to work harder, which in turn can lead to heart failure. Islam hopes to target the underlying cause of this arterial muscularization with new drugs that would inhibit or reverse this process to better treat early-stage high blood pressure.

Watch this video to learn about Islam and her research.

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