Translational biology, medicine, and health student pursues science close to home with new grant
Mason Wheeler, a doctoral candidate in the Pfleger Lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, earned a prestigious Ruth Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Mason Wheeler fell for science early, but she figured pursuing a career in it would take her far from home and sooner rather than later.
“I grew up in Roanoke. I was always under the impression that if I wanted to pursue scientific research seriously, that I would have to leave,” she said.
Today, Wheeler is a doctoral candidate in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) Graduate Program. She is studying the molecular mechanisms of diabetic heart disease in the Pfleger Lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, and she is the new recipient of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant — all within a 10-minute drive of the house where she grew up.
Wheeler was awarded a three-year, $127,500 Ruth Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
“I'm doing exactly what I want, in my hometown, operating in a world class research institute with genuine and fervent buy-in from the administration, under the leadership of an incredible faculty mentor, with federal funding from the most prestigious award that someone at this stage of their career can receive,” she said. “None of that would be possible without the vision and hard work of the people who created the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the TBMH program.”
Jessica Pfleger, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Wheeler’s mentor, calls her hard-working, dedicated, and conscientious.
“Mason’s strong knowledge of cardiovascular biology and metabolism and her attention to detail in designing and executing her experiments make her a standout early career scientist,” Pfleger said. “Her NIH award is well-deserved and will undoubtedly help her reach her goal of leading her own laboratory one day.”
Pfleger and the NIH are not the first to recognize Wheeler’s research prowess.
It happened first when she was a student at the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School, a regional magnet school for science and technology, when the teacher for her research class told Wheeler’s mother that she could see Wheeler pursuing research for the rest of her life.
Wheeler attended the University of Virginia before transferring to Roanoke College, where she graduated as the COVID-19 pandemic hit full-swing.
She took a job as a technician in Virginia Tech’s Molecular Diagnostics Lab conducting COVID testing at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, where she saw up close how science impacts communities and health disparities and considered applying to the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health program in another year or so.
Carla Finkielstein, a professor at the research institute and scientific director of the Molecular Diagnostics Lab, advised her not to wait.
“Carla sat me down and said, ‘You need to apply. You need to apply this year,’” Wheeler said.
She did, and a year later became a graduate research assistant in the Pfleger Lab.
The lab focuses on how the molecular mechanisms that drive cardiovascular diseases are affected by environmental factors such as stress and diet.
Wheeler’s project examines the molecular pathways leading to diabetic heart disease. Type 2 diabetes doubles a patient’s risk.
In health, the pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which is vital to cells being able to take nutrients and convert them to energy. In Type 2 diabetes, the body becomes resistant or insensitive to insulin, and the resulting build-up of unused fats and sugars harms cells and impairs energy production, including muscle cells in the heart called cardiomyocytes. That lack of energy in heart cells can prove fatal.
Existing treatments target managing blood sugar and providing insulin to manage downstream effects of the disease, but without addressing its root causes.
Wheeler’s research explores the role of a protein, called REDD1, which appears to play a key role in regulating insulin resistance. She believes a high fat diet keeps the protein from getting where it needs to be inside cells to perform its role.
“If the true goal is to reinstate insulin sensitivity and address this disease at the root level, we have to understand these processes,” Wheeler said. “Right now, we can treat symptoms, but we don’t know how to address the disease at the root point. Basic science is really remarkable and really elegant at answering those questions.”
