Stephanie Lapierre-Nguyen, PhD

2025 Sharon Anderson Research Fellowship Award

Institution: University of Colorado at Anschutz Medical Campus

Project Title: Inspiratory muscle strength training for improving cerebrovascular and cognitive function in midlife and older adults with chronic kidney disease

How would you sum up your overall research focus in one sentence?

My overall research focus is to design and implement lifestyle interventions to enhance cardiovascular and cerebrovascular function as a strategy for improving cognitive health in groups at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment, particularly patients with kidney disease.

Provide a brief overview of the research you will conduct with help from the grant.

The question I aim to investigate is whether high-resistance inspiratory muscle strength training, a novel, time-efficient physical training intervention, can improve cerebrovascular and cognitive function in patients with chronic kidney disease.

What inspired you to focus your research in this area?

Patients with chronic kidney disease are more likely to face mortality due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease than to progress to end-stage kidney disease. Exercise is a powerful intervention that can improve cardiovascular function and cognition, but patients with chronic kidney disease have numerous barriers to traditional exercise. Thus, alternative interventions such as high-resistance inspiratory muscle strength training may be more feasible for patients while providing similar benefits as exercise.

What impact do you hope your research will have on patients?

I hope my research will lead us to novel lifestyle interventions that patients feel confident they can adhere to while also providing cardiovascular and cognitive benefits.

What are your career goals at the end of the grant period? Five years out? Ten years out?

Using the training I will gain during this grant period I plan to apply for a career development award. In five years, my goal is to be a funded independent investigator, and in ten, an established faculty member directing an impactful clinical and translational research program and providing mentorship to the next generation of scientists.

In one sentence, please describe the importance of having grant funding available through KidneyCure.

KidneyCure provides me with financial support and protected time to dedicate the next two years to acquiring new skills and techniques that are necessary to reach my career goals.

Something you may not know about me is…

I am training in Brazilian Jiujitsu and plan to compete for the first time this year!

In my free time I like to…

Hike with my husband and our two huskies.