Mohammad Saleem, PhD, Research Instructor in Medicine at Vanderbilt Health, is the recipient of a 2026 Stephanie Watts Career Development Award, sponsored by the American Heart Association Council on Hypertension’s Trainee Advocacy Committee and Data Sciences International.
Saleem is a member of the lab of Annet Kirabo, DVM, MSc, PhD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology, who also received the Established Investigator Award for Clinical Hypertension from the Council on Hypertension and award sponsor Sky Labs Inc.
Both awards were presented in early October at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions in Arlington, Virginia.
Saleem’s award is named for Stephanie Watts, PhD, a cardiovascular researcher at Michigan State University known for her mentorship of early-career scientists. The award will support his investigations of immune cell-mediated mechanisms underlying salt-sensitivity of blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Saleem, a Vanderbilt faculty member since 2017, earned his PhD in pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Houston and completed two postdoctoral research fellowships at Vanderbilt Health. He also is the recipient of a 2026 Young Investigator Award from the American Physiological Society.
