AHA Announces 2023 Early Career Investigator Award Finalists

Junichi Saito, MD, PhD, is one of five finalists selected for the American Heart Association (AHA) Young Hearts Early Career Investigator Award. Saito is a postdoctoral fellow in the Greif Lab.

Under the guidance of Daniel Greif, MD, professor of medicine and genetics at the Yale School of Medicine, Saito explores the role of vascular remodeling in the field of pediatric cardiovascular disease. Saito will present his abstract, “Presenilin 1 Deletion in Smooth Muscle Cells Ameliorates Hypermuscularization and Stenosis in Elastin Aortopathy” during the AHA Scientific Sessions Young Hearts Early Career Investigator Competition, held November 11, 2023.

Saito is the recipient of several awards including the Pediatric Cardiology Award, Neonatal Research Award, and Young Investigator’s Award from Japanese research societies, the Overseas Research Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Congenital Heart Defect Research Award from the American Heart Association / Children’s Heart Foundation. He earned his medical degree from Gunma University School of Medicine and a PhD from the Yokohama City University, both in Japan.