About the Authors

Mark T. Gladwin

gladwinmt@upmc.edu

Affiliations Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Division of Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Robyn J. Barst

Affiliation Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America

J. Simon R. Gibbs

Affiliation National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Mariana Hildesheim

Affiliations Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Division of Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Vandana Sachdev

Affiliation Cardiovascular Branch, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Mehdi Nouraie

Affiliation Howard University, Washington, DC, United States of America

Kathryn L. Hassell

Affiliation University of Colorado HSC, Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Jane A. Little

Affiliation Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America

Dean E. Schraufnagel

Affiliation University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Lakshmanan Krishnamurti

Affiliations Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Enrico Novelli

Affiliation Vascular Medicine Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Reda E. Girgis

Affiliation Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Claudia R. Morris

Affiliation Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Erika Berman Rosenzweig

Affiliation Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America

David B. Badesch

Affiliation University of Colorado HSC, Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Sophie Lanzkron

Affiliation Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Oswaldo L. Castro

Affiliation Howard University, Washington, DC, United States of America

James G. Taylor VI

Affiliation Cardiovascular Branch, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Jonathan C. Goldsmith

Affiliation National Heart Lung and Blood Institute/NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Gregory J. Kato

Affiliation Cardiovascular Branch, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Victor R. Gordeuk

Affiliation University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Roberto F. Machado

Affiliation University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

on behalf of the walk-PHaSST Investigators and Patients

Competing Interests

The following authors have no conflicts to report: Castro, Girgis, Goldsmith, Hildesheim, Kato, Krishnamurti, Little, Machado, Nouraie, and Sachdev. Badesch has received honoraria for service on steering committees or advisory boards (or as a consultant) to the following companies working in the area of pulmonary hypertension: Actelion/CoTherix, Gilead, Pfizer, Mondo-Biotech/Mondogen, United Therapeutics/Lung Rx, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly/ICOS, Bayer, Ikaria, and Arena. He has received grant support for clinical studies from GlaxoSmithKline, Actelion/CoTHerix, Gilead, Pfizer, United Therapeutics/Lung Rx, Lilly/ICOS, Bayer, and Novartis. He provided information pertinent to a legal matter for Actelion. Barst has received honoraria for consulting for: Actelion, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Ikaria, Novartis, Pfizer, VentriPoint, and owns stock/stock options in VentriPoint. Gibbs serves on advisory boards and/or performs consultancy work for Actelion, Bayer, Gilead, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer, and United Therapeutics. Mark Gladwin receives grant support from the NIH, Bayer Corporation, and Gilead Sciences. He is listed as a co-inventor on a US government patent for the use of nitrate salts and is a co-author on patent applications related to treating hemolysis. He also performs consulting for Bayer Corp and serves in an advisory capacity for Aires Pharmaceuticals. The Vascular Medicine Institute is funded by the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and the Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania. Victor Gordeuk serves as a consultant for AesRx Pharmaceutical Company regarding developing a drug for sickle cell disease. He has also received an honorarium from AesRx and provided a testimonial review during a legal case involving sickle cell disease. Hassell has received research support for a multicenter study from Glycomimetics, Inc and Emmaus, Inc. and served on the advisory board for ApoPharma; AGA, Inc. Lanzkron serves on the scientific advisory board of Hemaquest. She also receives K award funding from the NHLBI K23HL083089. Morris is the inventor or co-inventor of patent applications owned by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland (CHRCO) involving biomarkers and therapies that target arginine dysregulation, and has received royalties from IP licensed from CHRCO to NourishLife for a nutritional supplement that targets oxidative stress. Novelli receives research funding from the American Society of Hematology Scholar Award and the Gilead Sciences Research Award. Berman Rosenzweig has received honoraria for consultation with Actelion, Gilead, and United Therapeutics in the past 2 years. She has received research funding from Actelion, Gilead, United Therapeutics, GSK, Eli Lily, Bayer, and Novartis in the past 2 years. Schraufnagel, MD serves on the Board of Directors for the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease; Union North America. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Performed the experiments: RJB JSRG VS MN KLH JAL DES LK EN REG CRM EBR DBB SL OLC JGT JCG GJK VRG. Analyzed the data: MTG RFM MH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MTG RFM MH RJB JSRG VS MN KLH JAL DES LK EN REG CRM EBR DBB SL OLC JGT JCG GJK VRG. Wrote the manuscript: MTG MH RFM. Edited the manuscript: RJB JSRG VS MN KLH JAL DES LK EN REG CRM EBR DBB SL OLC JGT JCG GJK VRG.