Two FSU doctoral students receive prestigious American Heart Association fellowships to support heart disease research
Tallahassee, Florida – Two Florida State University doctoral candidates have been awarded the highly competitive 2025 American Heart Association (AHA) Predoctoral Fellowships, a recognition that places them among the most promising young cardiovascular researchers in the country.
Leila Khalili, a student in the Nutrition and Food Science program within the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, and Emily Shiel, a doctoral candidate in the College of Medicine, were both selected for the prestigious two-year fellowships. Each award provides nearly $70,000 in funding to support research that could significantly advance understanding and treatment of heart disease.
“Receiving the AHA Predoctoral Fellowship is a significant honor,” Khalili said. “The funding allows me to conduct more in-depth research, analyze larger datasets, and refine my methodologies. This recognition also supports my career goals by opening opportunities for further research collaborations and positioning me as a cardiovascular health and microbiota research scholar.”
Khalili’s research focuses on the role of the gut microbiome in heart health, specifically how a beneficial bacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, might influence the development of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis, a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, occurs when plaque builds up in arteries, narrowing and hardening them over time. Khalili believes that targeting the gut microbiota through diet or other interventions may offer new ways to prevent this dangerous condition.
“The gut microbiota, a complex community of bacteria in the digestive system, plays a key role in many aspects of our health, including cardiovascular health,” she explained. “This fellowship validates the importance of exploring alternative approaches to cardiovascular disease prevention, such as dietary interventions and gut microbiota modulation.”
Khalili hopes her research will ultimately help reshape the way we approach cardiovascular health, steering it toward more personalized and accessible solutions. “It motivates me to continue pushing forward with my work and contribute to the growing body of research reshaping how we approach heart health. It also strengthens my commitment to improving public health by advancing more personalized, effective, and accessible treatments for cardiovascular diseases,” she added.
While Khalili looks to the gut, Emily Shiel is exploring the immune system’s role in inherited heart disease. Her research zeroes in on arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), a rare but deadly condition caused by genetic mutations that affect the cardiac muscle, leading to irregular heartbeats and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death—especially in young people.
“Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a genetic heart disease and a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in the young,” Shiel said. “Hearts from these patients become inflamed, causing cell death, and scar tissue. This weakens the heart from pumping properly and may cause abnormal heartbeats.”
Shiel’s work focuses on neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that normally responds to injury and then fades away. In ACM patients, however, these immune cells appear to overstay their welcome, continuing to cause inflammation and potentially worsening the condition. Using animal models, she plans to test the effects of deleting a specific gene and blocking a protein that contributes to this damaging inflammatory response.
“This directly supports the mission of the AHA by uncovering potential targets to prevent heart inflammation in ACM and other heart diseases,” she said.
The AHA Predoctoral Fellowship is designed to support promising young scientists who are working to improve cardiovascular and brain health. With their research spanning two different but critical aspects of heart disease—microbial influence and immune system behavior—both Khalili and Shiel represent the next generation of medical innovators.
Their recognition not only brings honor to Florida State University but also reflects a broader shift in how heart disease is being studied. From the gut to the genes, these students are exploring novel frontiers that may lead to breakthroughs in how heart conditions are understood, prevented, and treated in the years to come.
