Category: Prediction and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease


Jeffrey O. Bush, Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Signaling control of mammalian morphogenesis and congenital disease

Summary:

Our lab studies basic mechanisms by which signaling between cells coordinates mammalian morphogenesis. Understanding this control has significance beyond its fundamental importance in development since birth defects are the leading cause of death for infants during the first year of life. We utilize multiple approaches based in mouse genetics to understand fundamental signaling processes as they relate to development and disease with particular foci in the craniofacial and respiratory systems. In addition to mouse genetics approaches, we utilize human ES/IPSCs, biophysical approaches, multiomics, and live imaging to understand the cellular and molecular control of morphogenesis.

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Christina Theodoris, M.D., Ph.D.

Research Interests:

Gene regulatory networks, machine learning, and cardiovascular disease

Summary:

Our lab studies how genes interact within networks to direct normal heart development and how those networks are disrupted in cardiovascular disease. Using a combination of computational and experimental approaches, we map the disrupted gene networks to enable the design of therapies that correct them back to the healthy state.

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Akinyemi Oni-Orisan, PhD

Research Interests:

Pharmacogenomics, Cardiovascular drugs, Health disparities

Summary:

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, affecting almost 100 million adults and costing over $300 billion. Death from cardiovascular disease had been steadily declining since the 1970s due in part to remarkable advances in pharmacotherapy, but more recently has started to worsen. Although the reasons for this reversing trend are likely multifactorial, it is evident that better optimization of therapy may help to improve this recent worsening. In particular, there exists considerable interindividual variability in response to cardiovascular drugs. We hypothesize that the discovery and clinical validity of molecular biomarkers for cardiovascular disease drug response will allow clinicians more precise select cardiovascular pharmacotherapy regimens, thereby improving population-wide cardiovascular health outcomes. The overall research goal of my group is to improve pharmacological regimens for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease through precision medicine. To accomplish this objective, we combine computational approaches in pharmacogenomics, pharmacometrics, and pharmacoepidemiology using electronic health record-linked biobanks. In addition, only ~14% of participants from all genome wide association studies are of non-European descent, despite accounting for ~86% of the global population. This underrepresentation has the strong potential to exacerbate health disparities. Thus, another goal of our group is to ensure that study populations of genomics research studies are inclusive so that advances can benefit all. In accord with our overall research objectives and the approaches that we employ, we are currently investigating genetic determinants of efficacy and safety for hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor therapy in diverse populations.

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Priscilla Hsue, MD

Research Interests:
Inflammation, Immunology and Cardiovascular Disease

Summary:
I oversee a multidisciplinary team which is studying the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease with a focus on HIV.  Our work includes descriptions of cardiovascular manifestations in HIV, elucidation of mechanisms underlying this disease process, and proof-of-concept therapeutic interventions to decrease CV risk with potential impact on HIV cure.

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Nevan J. Krogan, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Systems biology, quantitative unbiased approaches, proteomics, genetic interactions, proteinprotein interactions, post-translational modifications, cancer, infectious diseases, cardiac development, psychiatric disorders.

Summary:

Our research focuses on fundamental biological mechanisms, because cures to many diseases have been revealed by unexpected discoveries in the basic sciences. We use and develop complementing technologies that allow the unbiased study of the cell. We create maps to study how proteins work together in cells, and how this changes during different diseases, including infectious diseases, cancer as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders. We strongly believe that impactful research is accomplished when diverse groups of scientists work together, and therefore we are working in close collaboration with national and international experts from different disciplines on all of our projects.

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Stella A. Bialous, DrPH, FAAN

Research Interests:

Tobacco control, health policy, nursing, public health, capacity building, smoking cessation, cancer, non-communicable diseases, tobacco industry, global health, health diplomacy, sustainable development goals.

Summary:

Dr. Stella Bialous’ research focuses on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, tobacco industry monitoring and building nurses’ capacity for tobacco control nationally and internationally. Dr. Bialous has consulted with the World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative for over 15 years. In 2003, she received the American Legacy Foundation’s Sybill G. Jacobson Adult Award for Outstanding Use of Tobacco Industry Document. In 2012, she received the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care Distinguished Merit Award and is currently the Society’s President.

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Nelson B Schiller, M.D.

Schiller

Research Interests:
Dr. Schiller specializes in the use of echocardiography in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. His research interests center around the quantitation of left ventricular function by quantitative two-dimensional echocardiography and Doppler.

Summary:
Measuring the heart has been a preoccupation of civilizations since ancient Egypt. Measuring the heart using noninvasive techniques that are free of ionizing radiation has riveted the attention of modern medicine because knowledge of the size of the heart’s anatomic parts provides powerful diagnostic and therapeutic information. Dr. Nelson B. Schiller a member of the Department of Medicine, Cardiology Division, CVRI and John J. Sampson-Lucie Stern Endowed Chair in Cardiology, has spent his career investigating the application of echocardiography to the precise measurement and clinical application of the volume, weight and hemodynamics of the chambers and valves of the heart. His work is currently centered on the Heart and Soul Study (Mary Whooley, MD PI), where echocardiography measurements are being related to outcomes of heart disease.

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Jeffrey E Olgin, M.D.

Olgin

Research Interests:
Cardiac Electrophysiology, Arrhythmias, Mechanisms, Remodeling, Cardiac Fibrosis, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiac Ablation, Mouse models, animal models, mouse electrophysiology, optical mapping, atrial fibrillation ablation, clinical trials.

Summary:

Mechanisms of arrhythmias, remodeling and cardiac fibrosis, atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, sudden death, prediction of atrial fibrillation, prediction of sudden death.
Dr. Olgin’s basic research lab is interested in atrial and ventricular remodeling and how these processes occur to develop a substrate for atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. His work has demonstrated the circuit for human atrial flutter and has demonstrated the importance of atrial fibrosis as a cause for atrial fibrillation. He is currently interested in how TGFß signaling is regulated in the atria to produce atrial fibrosis and atrial fibrillation. His lab is translational in that he utilizes a spectrum of techniques and studies that span from mouse, large animal physiologic models, human tissue, human biomarkers and genetic approaches to understanding the disease. He also has active studies in understanding the remodeling that occurs in the ventricle in the setting of heart failure and myocardial infarction to create the substrate for sudden death and ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation.
Dr. Olgin also runs the UCSF Cardiology Clinical Coordinating Center. He is PI of the VEST study, a multi-center, international randomized study to determine whether a wearable defibrillator vest can reduce the big early sudden death rate post-MI.

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Pui-Yan Kwok, M.D., Ph.D.

Kwok

Research Interests:
Genetic analysis of complex traits, DNA technology development

Summary:
We are developing efficient methods to analyze single DNA molecules and applying molecular genetic tools to identify genetic factors associated with complex human traits such as longevity, sudden cardiac arrest, stroke, psoriasis, lupus, and kidney transplantation outcome. We are also conducting studies to identify genetic factors associated with drug response. The overall goal of our research is to develop the tools for genetic analysis of whole genomes and apply these tools to elucidate the genetic factors associated with common human diseases and phenotypes. The sequencing of the human genome and the mapping of common genetic variation by the International HapMap Consortium, in which our lab participated, have inspired an explosion of new technologies, accelerating identification of genetic susceptibility loci. Our phenotypes of interest include kidney transplantation outcomes, longevity, pharmacogenetics of membrane transporters, sudden cardiac death, psoriasis, skin cancer and brian vascular malformations and hemorrhage.

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Theodore W Kurtz, M.D.

Kurtz

Research Interests:
Molecular Genetics of Complex Disease, Genetic Models of Hypertension and the Metabolic Syndrome, Transcription Modulating Drugs

Summary:
Hypertension affects 30% of the population and is a major cause of stroke, kidney failure, and heart disease. Patients with hypertension are also at increased risk for diabetes. Our laboratory is studying genetic mechanisms that promote increased blood pressure with the goal of identifying new opportunities for the prevention and treatment of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

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Ronald M Krauss, M.D.

Krauss

Research Interests:
Summary:
Lipoprotein metabolism and risk of cardiovascular disease

Despite recent advances in treatment, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the US and will soon achieve this status globally. Our group’s research is aimed at addressing three major challenges for reducing this enormous disease burden. First, standard diagnostic procedures do not identify a high proportion of children and adults who are at risk for CVD. We have developed and implemented a sophisticated new procedure that, by analyzing individual lipoprotein particles, provides more specific information than that afforded by ordinary cholesterol testing, and hence is capable of improving both the assessment and management of CVD risk. Second, dietary and lifestyle guidance has failed to substantially impact CVD risk factors, particularly those related to overweight and obesity. We have demonstrated that carbohydrate restriction can reverse the high risk lipid profile found in a high proportion of overweight and obese individuals even without weight loss, and that this effect is independent of saturated fat intake. These findings have helped support dietary guidelines that place a greater emphasis on limiting refined carbohydrates than fats. Third, despite the awareness of wide interindividual variability in response to treatments aimed at reducing CVD risk, the potential benefits of applying genomic tools for developing personalized approaches for maximizing CVD risk reduction have not been realized. A major component of our research program has been the application and development of genomic methodology for dissecting genetic influences on the therapeutic responses to statins, the most widely prescribed class of drugs for reducing CVD risk.

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John P Kane, M.S., M.D., Ph.D.

Kane

Research Interests:
Structure and function of lipoproteins; genetic determinants of arteriosclerosis

Summary:
The Kane laboratory focuses on the discovery of the native structures of lipoproteins ( proteins that carry cholesterol so that we can better understand how they are involved in the development of heart disease and stroke. We are also active in the discovery of alterations in genes that lead to heart disease and stroke.

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