Lupus Associated Cardiovascular Disease: Pathological Role of Endothelial Autoantibodies Systemic Lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that is 3x more likely to affect minority women compared to white women. SLE has been demonstrated to affect the heart, kidney, … Read More
Sex differences in hypertension, inflammation and diabetes, and the impact of menopause on disease progression Premenopausal females are known to be protected against developing hypertension. However, after going through menopause, a woman’s risk of developing hypertension and other cardiovascular complications … Read More
Altering Cardiac Cell Fate for Heart Repair We will discuss how insights from developmental biology and stem cell concepts—particularly in cell identity, fate determination, and epigenetics—have been leveraged to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying direct cardiac reprogramming, concomitantly enhancing reprogramming … Read More
Targeting the microtubule network to treat hypertension This talk will focus on the role of the microtubule network in vascular smooth muscle andhow it can regulate vascular tone. This work has revealed how targeting the microtubulenetwork may represent a potential … Read More
The forkhead transcription FoxO1 signaling in health and disease. The topic will cover the complex regulatory mechanisms of Foxo1 by multiple hormones, such as insulin, estrogen, and glucagon, which reveals the mechanism of insulin resistance for type 2 diabetes and … Read More
LINCing the Nucleus to Endothelial Cell Function in Blood Vessels Blood flow-generated shear forces regulate vascular endothelial cell status and signaling, and disrupted responses are linked to cardiovascular disease. We investigate how nuclear membrane proteins integrate forces and communicate to cell-cell … Read More
Sex-dependent cAMP Pools in Vascular Smooth Muscle: Role of Sex Hormones This talk focuses on the sex-dependent regulation of subcellular cAMP compartments in vascular smooth muscle. Our research revealed a sex-specific distribution of cAMP pools that contribute to sex-dependent regulation … Read More
Brains, Blood Vessels, & Hearts: Investigating Cardio-Cerebral Crosstalk using Pig Models of Heart Failure The primary focus of my research is to investigate mechanisms involved in the development of heart disease and associated cognitive impairment, with the goal of discovering … Read More
Age-related clonal hematopoiesis: A Novel Driver of Hypertension? The rising prevalence of hypertension with age poses a major public health challenge due to its role as a critical risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Parallel to this trend, older individuals frequently … Read More
GPR126 is a mechanoreceptor by which the endocardium senses cardiac load We have combined the use of genetic and physiologic approaches in mice to define how the adhesion GPCR GPR126 functions in vivo. Our findings reveal that GPR126 is activated by … Read More
Epigenetic Control of Smooth Muscle Differentiation: Insights from Smooth Muscle Dysfunction Syndrome Heterozygous ACTA2 p.R179 pathogenic variants cause Smooth Muscle Dysfunction Syndrome. ACTA2 encodes smooth muscle α-actin (SMA), and the p.R179 variant disrupts nuclear localization of SMA, leading to incomplete differentiation of smooth muscle … Read More
LVAD-Induced Bleeding & Acquired Von Willebrand Disease (aVWD) A translational journey on how to explain and reconcile the clinical signs of LVAD-related bleeding and laboratory findings associated with acquired Von Willebrand Disease Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Texas at … Read More
