Category: Muscle Biology and Heart Failure

Akiko Hata, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Mechanisms of growth factor signaling in the control of cell growth and differentiation of vascular cells

Summary:
Research in the Hata lab focuses on the role of the BMP/TGF signaling pathway in the maintenance of vascular homeostasis, control of vascular injury repair, and pathogenesis of vascular diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), restenosis, and atherosclerosis. Our approach is to study gene mutations identified among patients with IPAH or HHT and elucidate how these gene products affect the signaling pathway as well as vascular physiology using both cell culture and animal models.

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William Grossman, M.D.

Research Interests:
Diastolic function of the left ventricle; Prevention of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke.

Summary:
Dr. William Grossman has been a pioneer in research on diastolic function of the left ventricle and is editor of the widely respected textbook, “Grossman’s Cardiac Catheterization, Angiography and Intervention,: which is used by cardiology trainees around the world. Grossman is the Charles and Helen Schwab Endowed Chair in Preventive Cardiology, and Director, Center for Prevention of Heart & Vascular Disease Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

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Bruce R Conklin, M.D.

Research Interests:
Engineering Hormone Signaling Pathways In Vivo

Summary:
Hormone receptors direct the development and function of complex tissues, including those found in the cardiovascular system. The focus of our research is on the largest known family of receptors for hormones and drugs, the G protein coupled receptors. We combine genetic engineering, stem cells and new computer programs to find new treatments of cardiovascular disease.

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Benoit G Bruneau, B.Sc., Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Heart development, congenital heart disease, chromatin, embryogenesis, transcription

Summary:
Our laboratory studies the genes that direct a cell to become a heart cell, focusing on the machinery within each cell that turns genes on or off. Many of these factors are implicated in human congenital heart disease, and our studies also focus on understanding the basis of these diseases.

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Brian L. Black, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Cardiac and skeletal muscle development, differentiation, and function

Summary:
Tissues and organs form during mammalian embryonic development through the integration of numerous signaling and transcriptional pathways. Our major goal is to define pathways controlling organ formation to understand normal development, the molecular basis for congenital defects, and potential mechanisms for organ regeneration and repair.

We use a combination of gene knockouts, transgenic reporter assays, biochemical, computational, and genomic approaches to investigate basic developmental mechanisms. We primarily use the mouse as a model system, but several current projects also use cultured cells or zebrafish as models to understand developmental gene regulation. Current work in the lab is focused primarily on cell autonomous mechanisms underlying gene regulation, tissue specification, organ formation and metabolic control during cardiovascular, craniofacial, and neural crest development.

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