Program Faculty
Christie Ballantyne, M.D.
Professor & Interim Chief of Cardiology
The role of inflammation and cell adhesion molecules in vascular disease.
Robert M. Bryan Jr., Ph.D.
Professor
Cerebral circulation; traumatic brain injury; stroke; endothelial responses; vascular smooth muscle; cerebral energy metabolism; smooth muscle-endothelial interaction; calcium regulation; potassium channels.
Lawrence Chan, M.D.
Professor
Cellular and molecular biology and animal models of diabetes, lipid metabolism; and obesity, and somatic gene therapy of diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.
Chu-Huang (Mendel) Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Electronegative LDL, atherogenesis, and signal transduction.
Thomas A. Cooper, M.D.
Professor
Alternative splicing in development and disease.
Miguel A. Cruz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Von Willebrand factor, platelet integrins, platelet biochemistry, rheology, structural biology.
Mary Dickinson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Multi-disciplinary approach to study the role of fluid-derived mechanical forces in vascular remodeling and heart morphogenesis in early vertebrate embryos.
Jing-Fei Dong, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Effects of flow shear stress on platelet functions; von Willebrand factor and its proteolysis; inflammation and thrombosis.
Tony Eissa, M.D.
Associate Professor
Regulation of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase.
Mark Entman, M.D.
Professor and Director
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardiac injury and repair emphasizing the role of precursors and their relationship to inflammatory signalling.
Xin-Hua Feng, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
TGF-B, signaling, post-translational protein modification.
Nikolaos Frangogiannis, M.D.
Associate Professor
Healing of the infarcted heart; role of chemokines in cardiac repair; resolution of inflammatory response in the infracted myocardium; development of fibrosis in the ischemic heart.
Craig Hartley, Ph.D.
Professor
Design and application of implantable, intravascular, and noninvasive ultrasonic sensors; techniques for monitoring blood flow, vascular mechanics, and cardiac function in mammals from transgenic mice to humans.
Sandra Haudek, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Cardiac remodeling, fibrosis, fibroblast precursors.
Karen Hirschi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Regulation of vascular development; vascular potential of adult stem and progenitor cells.
Frank T. Horrigan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Molecular and biophysical mechanisms of ion channel gating. Allosteric regulation of BK potassium channel function.
Jeffrey Jacot, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Modeling cardiac mechanics in congenital heart disease and developing regenerative cardiac therapies for the treatment of pediatric heart disease.
Ali J. Marian, M.D.
Associate Professor
Molecular genetics of cardiomyopathies; structure-function analysis of mutant sarcomeric proteins in transgenic animals and adult cardiac myocytes; identification of genetic risk factors for coronary artery disease.
Sean Marrelli, Ph.D. (Associate Director)
Assistant Professor
Study in my laboratory pertains to the mechanisms by which the endothelium regulates vascular tone in the cerebral circulation in both normal and pathological conditions.
Lloyd Michael, Ph.D. (Director)
Professor
Myocardial ischemia; cardiac lymphatic system; platelet and leukocyte function in inflammation of the heart; experimental models of cardiovascular disease.
Joel Morrisett, Ph.D.
Professor
Integrated investigation of peripheral atherosclerosis (carotid and femoral arteries) using in vivo imaging by high resolution MRI and ex vivo tissue analysis by microCT, immunohistochemistry, proteomics, and genomics to elucidate mechanisms of calcification and remodeling.
Karen Niederreither, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Cardiovascular development; role of active vitamin A (retinoic acid) in regulation of embryonic development, cardiac growth, and cell proliferation.
Henry J. Pownall, Ph.D.
Professor
Identification of the molecular basis of disorders associated with atherosclerosis, obesity, alcoholic hepatitis, and hypertriglyceridemia; dietary studies in human subjects and in animal models; cell culture and gene regulation.
Anilkumar K. Reddy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Development and application of noninvasive methods to measure cardiac velocities, blood flow velocities in central and peripheral vessels, arterial pulse-wave velocity, arterial wall motion, blood pressure, and aortic and arterial impedance in mice using ultrasound and other modalities.
Rolando E. Rumbaut, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Microcirculatory physiology and pathophysiology; microvascular permeability; interactions in vivo between platelets, leukocytes and microvessels during inflammation.
Natarajan Sivasubramanian, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
NFkB, redox stress, transcriptional mechanisms and regulation in failing heart.
C. Wayne Smith, M.D.
Professor
Molecular pathway of inflammatory diseases; role of inflammatory cells; neutrophils and monocytes in reperfusion injury and their adherence to endothelium.
Elke M. Sokoya, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Sex differences of vascular reactivity, regulation of intercellular communication via gap junctions in the cerebrovasculature, vascular dysfunction after traumatic brain injury.
George Taffet, M.D.
Associate Professor
Age-related changes in the heart and vasculature; physiology and related biochemistry of mouse models of human aging and disease.
Addison Taylor, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Neuronal regulation of blood pressure; role of oxygen-free radicals and lipid-derived mediators in cardiovascular inflammatory responses.
JoAnn Trial, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Inflammation, monocyte/macrophage phenotype versus function, HIV, cardiovascular disease.
Matteo Vatta, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Molecular genetics and biological mechanisms of sudden cardiac death.
Vinod K. Vijayan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Platelet integrins and signalling. Platelet polymorphisms.
Xander H.T. Wehrens, M.D. Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Regulation of cardiac ion channels and intracellular calcium handling in cardiac arrhythmias, hypertrophy and heart failure.