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 training at Harvard Medical School and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Khetarpal is an expert in basic lipid biology and preventative cardiology and recipient of a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the prestigious Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists. His first CVRC-affiliated paper, “Cardiac Adaptation to Endurance Exercise Training Requires Suppression of GDF15 Via PGC-1α,” was published in Nature Cardiovascular Research today.
“Combining research and clinical training allows you to fundamentally advance our knowledge of human diseases,” Dr. Khetarpal explained. In his research, he studies the heart both as the primary organ of the circulatory system, but also as an important member of the endocrine system, regulating the body’s functions by releasing signaling molecules and hormones. These cardiac signals are modulated by exercise and illness. Natriuretic peptides, for example, are proteins released by the heart when it stretches or experiences increased pressure. They beneficially regulate blood pressure, and a common drug prescribed in heart failure, sacubitril-valsartan, in part prevents them from being broken down. “Since the discovery and targeting of natriuretic peptides for heart disease, we haven’t found many other heart-secreted proteins. I think there’s an opportunity to be inspired by this successful example and use new tools to identify other heart-derived proteins that can benefit patients,” says Dr. Khetarpal.
In his new paper, Dr. Khetarpal identifies a particular receptor in heart muscle cells, PGC-1α, essential for the heart to benefit from endurance exercise. Typically, exercise helps heart cells grow and function more efficiently. However, when Dr. Khetarpal deleted PGC-1α from those same cells, exercise no longer had any benefit. In fact, mice without PGC-1α suffered heart failure within 6 weeks of starting endurance training. With extensive work, Dr. Khetarpal showed that PGC-1α prevents the heart from releasing GDF15, a cardiac signaling molecule, and that a surplus of GDF15 led to the harmful consequences he observed. Further research will explore the roles of PGC-1α and GDF15 in heart failure and the heart’s ability to adapt to adapt to exercise.
Dr. Khetarpal is particularly interested to join the cardiovascular research community at UVA. Six years ago, he interviewed with Dr. Gary Owens, director of the CVRC, when he was considering where to do his Fellowship training. The conversations he had during that time resonated strongly enough to draw him back for his independent career. “There is a widespread spirit of inclusivity, collaboration, and altruistic mentorship for young scientists in the Cardiology Division. It really makes me feel like this is the right place,” he said.
This support from UVA will be bolstered by the network provided by the NIH K08 and Burroughs Wellcome Fund awards, which both provide five years of funding for physician scientists transitioning from training into faculty positions. Dr. Khetarpal was one of only thirteen recipients of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund award this year. In addition to financial support, he will have access to intellectual resources in the form of guidance, mentorship, and collaboration with other award recipients. The Career Award for Medical Scientists funds all areas of medical research, facilitating contacts between researchers who might not otherwise interact.
Dr. Khetarpal’s research team is currently hiring at the postdoctoral, graduate/MSTP, and undergraduate academic levels. His lab also has available research specialist positions. Individuals interested in joining the lab should contact Dr. Khetarpal via email, available on his lab website.