A University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补 researcher has received three years of National Institutes of Health (NIH) support to establish his own laboratory at the (JABSOM), following six months without a paycheck amid disruptions to federal research funding.
Jonathan Yap was awarded a two-part grant designed to help researchers transition from mentored training to running an independent lab. This funding will enable Yap to continue studying novel strategies to help the heart recover following a heart attack.
“It was a battle really. It was a hard-fought battle,” Yap said. “We just didn’t stop, and I think that’s what got us here today.”
Yap initially received the K99 phase while working under JABSOM Professor William Boisvert to study tristetraprolin (TTP), a protein that may reduce post-heart attack inflammation. The grant allows him to expand this research in his own lab.
Finding a path forward
Yap was originally awarded funding in 2023. However, 2025 federal policy changes disrupted that pathway, preventing a smooth transition to the independent phase when his original grant ended in May.
“For about six months I was unemployed,” Yap said. “I kinda just hung in there and kinda just kept going with what minimal things I could do in the lab at the time.”
Any achievement that I’ve reached in my life has never been done alone.
—Jonathan Yap
Determined not to let his research stall, JABSOM and 糖心视频 惭ā苍辞补 leaders worked to support his transition. Yap was hired as a JABSOM faculty member in February, enabling him to officially submit his successful grant application.
As a Native Hawaiian scientist, this perseverance has long defined Yap’s journey. After a body-surfing accident left him quadriplegic years before entering research, he originally joined JABSOM as a volunteer, gradually working his way up to postdoctoral researcher and now faculty member.
Today, Yap is preparing his laboratory in JABSOM‘s Biomedical Sciences Building, where he will continue his heart research while mentoring the next generation of scientists.
“There will always be adversity,” Yap said. “I feel like that’s one constant, and that one constant that accompanies achievement is adversity. Any achievement that I’ve reached in my life has never been done alone. It’s always been facilitated and required the assistance and really selflessness of others. And for that, I’m eternally grateful.”