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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Brooke O’Donnell, PhD, Receives AHA Funding to Study Hypertension
Brooke O’Donnell, PhD, a postdoc mentored by Brant Isakson, PhD, was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship from the American Heart Association. Her project, “PANX1 Y198 Phosphorylation Promotes the Development of Hypertension,” investigates how a particular chemical change to the Pannexin … Read More
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Tré Mills, PhD, Receives K99 Award to Study Alzheimer’s Disease
William “Tré” Mills III, PhD, mentored by Ukpong Eyo, PhD, recently received a K99/R00 grant award from the NIH. The award will fund his project, “The Role of Microglia-Pericyte Signaling in Maintaining Basal Capillary Tone in Health and Alzheimer’s Disease,” … Read More
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National Postdoc Appreciation Week Programming
Looking ahead to National Postdoc Appreciation Week, we encourage our postdocs to check out the University’s programming, described below.
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Five SRIP Fellows Join the CVRC for Summer Research
As part of this year’s Summer Research internship Program (SRIP), five undergraduate students have joined CVRC labs to build research skills and gain lab experience. Participants live at UVA for ten weeks, are partnered with a student mentor, and complete … Read More
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Ariel Polizio, PhD, Named NIH Butler-Williams Scholar
Ariel Polizio, PhD, was chosen as one of a select group of participants in this year’s Butler-Williams Scholars Program. The program, run by the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging (NIH-NIA), is a four-day intensive designed to help … Read More
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Center Researchers Share Career Insights With Local High Schoolers
CVTG appointee Hogan McKee, MBChB, recently presented to the Monticello High School Science National Honor Society, along with Antonio Abbate, MD, PhD. The Science National Honor Society hosts symposia given by outside speakers to expose high school students to career … Read More
Maddie Jackson, PhD Candidate
Lymphatic endothelial cell cycle control enables lymphatic valve formation The lymphatic vasculature relies on intraluminal valves to maintain unidirectional lymph flow and tissue fluid homeostasis. Disruption to their formation during embryonic development leads to congenital lymphedema, or aberrant pooling of … Read More
Nick Tsihlis, PhD
Nanoscale Materials to Target Diseases in the Vasculature Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality globally, with inflammation-inducing atherosclerotic plaque being the main contributing factor. The CANTOS trial showed that decreasing inflammation reduced cardiovascular events without lowering lipids, but … Read More
Nick Leeper, M.D.
The causal role of cancer in atherosclerosis Cancer and cardiovascular disease are the world’s leading killers. They share many overlapping risk factors, but emerging data suggest potential causal relationships. This lecture will describe new evidence suggesting that each disease may … Read More
Esther Lutgens, M.D., PhD
Immune checkpoints in atherosclerosis: a new VISTA I will talk about the role of co-stimulatory and coinhibitory immune checkpoints in atherosclerosis. Not only will I highlight the dangers of immune checkpoint inhibition in cancer treatment on the vasculature, I will … Read More