Deborah Cecilia Vela, M.D., MS

Faculty

Email

deborah.vela@bcm.edu

Positions

Faculty: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Baylor College of Medicine

Addresses

The Texas Heart Institute at Baylor College of Medicine (Lab): 6770 Bertner Avenue
Room O-511
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: (832) 355-9132
Deborah.Vela@bcm.edu

Education

MD from Universidad de Guayaquil: Guayaquil, Ecuador

MS from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: Houston, Texas; Biomedical Sciences

Professional Interests

Cardiovascular histopathology
Vascular diseases
Myocardial infarction

Professional Statement

Dr. Deborah Vela earned her medical degree from Universidad de Guayaquil and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences from UTHealth Houston. Since joining The Teas Heart Institute in 2005, Dr. Vela has focused on the histopathology of cardiovascular disease, with research spanning coronary atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysm and dissection, peripheral vascular disease, and myocardial infarction. Her work has involved interdisciplinary collaborations developing innovative imaging and molecular approaches for the characterization and early detection of atherosclerotic plaque and other vascular pathologies, and large-animal models to study myocardial healing and inflammation. Additionally, since 2007 Dr. Vela has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at McGovern Medical School (UTHealth Houston).

Selected Publications

Buja LM, Zhao B, Vela D, Segura A, Narula N. " Pathobiology of Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections: Synthesis of Recent Investigations and Evolving Insights " JACC Adv. ;
Pubmed PMID: 40286354.
Young P, Nolen D, Milner TE, Gruslova A, Vela D, Buja LM, Diaz Sanmartin LA, Rad P, Feldman MD. " Histology-Grounded Automated Plaque Subtype Segmentation in Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography " . J Soc Cardiovasc Angiogr Interv. ;
Pubmed PMID: 40230683.
Devkota L, Zhang C, Vela D, Sarkar P, Bhandari P, Starosolski Z, Menon R, Milewicz DM, Shen YH, LeMaire SA, Ghaghada KB. " Nanoparticle contrast-enhanced computed tomography of sporadic aortic aneurysm and dissection: Effect of nanoparticle size and contrast agent dose " Theranostics. ;
Pubmed PMID: 40093886.
Benfor B, Csore J, Vela DC, Montero-Baker M, Roy TL. " Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Histological Insights Into Deep Venous Arterialisation " EJVES Vasc Forum. ;
Pubmed PMID: 38884072.
Gruslova AB, Katta N, Nolen D, Jenney S, Vela D, Buja M, Cilingiroglu M, Seddighi Y, Han HC, Milner TE, Feldman MD. " Intravascular laser lithotripsy for calcium fracture in human coronary arteries " EuroIntervention. ;
Pubmed PMID: 38060282.
Ghaghada KB, Ren P, Devkota L, Starosolski Z, Zhang C, Vela D, Stupin IV, Tanifum EA, Annapragada AV, Shen YH, LeMaire SA. " Early Detection of Aortic Degeneration in a Mouse Model of Sporadic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection Using Nanoparticle Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography " Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. ;
Pubmed PMID: 33535789.
Bec J, Vela D, Phipps JE, Agung M, Unger J, Margulies KB, Southard JA, Buja LM, Marcu L. " Label-Free Visualization and Quantification of Biochemical Markers of Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression Using Intravascular Fluorescence Lifetime " JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. ;
Pubmed PMID: 33221238.
Phipps JE, Hoyt T, Vela D, Wang T, Michalek JE, Buja LM, Jang IK, Milner TE, Feldman MD. " Diagnosis of Thin-Capped Fibroatheromas in Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography Images: Effects of Light Scattering " Circ Cardiovasc Interv. ;
Pubmed PMID: 27406987.
Vela D, Gahremanpour A, Buja LM. " Method for sectioning and sampling hearts for histologic evaluation after delivery of biological agents by transendocardial injection " Cardiovasc Pathol. ;
Pubmed PMID: 26002556.
Vela D, Buja LM. " Basics of Pathological Assessment in Experimental Models of Stem Cell and Other Regenerative Therapies. " Stem Cell and Gene Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease. ;

Memberships

Society for Cardiovascular Pathology