Our Mission
The mission of the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center is to support interdisciplinary research in basic, translational and clinical cardiovascular sciences, including cardiovascular development, function, pathophysiology, pharmacology, genetics, genomics, and proteomics, and to apply this knowledge to better understand the causes of cardiovascular diseases and to pioneer development of new innovative therapies and approaches to prevent or treat them.
Goals and Objectives
- To support basic, translational, and clinical research that can be translated into therapies and improve patient care
- To provide resources that enhance research in cardiovascular related diseases
- To disseminate knowledge by lectures, seminars and other educational opportunities
- To support training of pre- and postgraduate students, residents and fellows in the cardiovascular sciences and cardiovascular medicine
- To help integrate cardiovascular research across labs, departments, and schools at UVA as well as with outside institutions including facilitating collaborative studies
- To assist CVRC investigators in developing a plan for translating research findings into products or procedures that benefit patients including providing advice on protecting intellectual property, establishing biotech startup companies, and licensing technology to companies
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Sonkusare Lab postdoc Fênix Araujo, PhD, Recieves AHA Fellowship
Fênix Araujo, PhD, a postdoc in the Sonkusare Lab, was recently awarded a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Heart Association. Her project, “Non-Genomic Effects of Mineralocorticoid Receptor on Smooth Muscle TRPV4 Channels and Blood Pressure”, explores the role … Read More
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Jonathan Lindner, MD, Shares Research Insights With Charlottesville Community
Jonathan Lindner, MD, presented at the monthly U Ask, UVA Answers on January 11. Dr. Lindner, a resident member of the CVRC and Frances Myers Ball Endowed Professor of Medicine, was invited to participate in this lecture series which allows … Read More
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Yen-Lin Chen, PhD, joins faculty of LSU Health Shreveport
Yen-Lin Chen, PhD, a former postdoctoral fellow working with Swapnil Sonkusare, PhD, started his tenure-track position in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology & Neuroscience at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport in January 2026. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Sonkusare … Read More
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Sonkusare Lab Members Receive Awards at NAVBO Meeting
Two members of the Sonkusare Lab received awards at the 2025 meeting of the North American Vascular Biology Society (NAVBO). Maniselvan Kuppusamy, PhD, a Senior Research Scientist, received the Emerging Leaders Award from the Microcirculatory Society. The award recognizes promising early-career … Read More
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CVRC Sweeps 2025 ASE Research Investigator Awards
Two CVRC members, Matteo Morello, MD, and Bethany Gholson, BS, ACS, RCS, FASE, won the 2025 Research Investigator Awards at this year’s American Society of Echocardiography (ASE). Dr. Morello received the Arthur E. Weyman Young Investigator’s Award and Gholson received … Read More
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Sumeet Khetarpal, MD, PhD, Joins the CVRC & Discovers New Cardiac Responses to Exercise
Sumeet Khetarpal, MD, PhD, joined the CVRC on September 2, 2025. Dr. Khetarpal, now an Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, comes to UVA from Massachusetts General Hospital, where he finished his Cardiology Fellowship. He also completed postdoctoral … Read More
Richard Thompson, PhD
Mechanisms of Reduced Exercise Capacity: Insights from Novel MRI Methods Reduced exercise capacity (reduced VO2max, oxygen consumption) is a hallmark feature of heart failure, affecting quality of life and reflecting disease severity and outcomes. Survivors of breast cancer therapy are at increased … Read More
Pearl Quijada, PhD
Regulation of Vascular Function by Cardiac Mesenchymal Cells My research group focuses on cell-cell interactions in the developing coronaryvasculature to enhance angiogenesis and reduce cardiac fibrosis after ischemic heartdamage. We investigate epicardium-derived progenitor cells during the epicardial-to-mesenchymal transition and their … Read More
Gary Owens, PhD
TBD Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Robert M. Berne Endowed Professor, Director of the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center