Wednesday, March 22, 2023
3/22/2023
Summary Cardiopulmonary fibrosis is a unifying factor in multiple pathologies, including post myocardial infarction (MI) scarring that leads to heart failure, heart valve disease (HVD), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), among others. My laboratory explores fibroblast-driven, mechanobiological mechanisms of cardiopulmonary fibrotic remodeling and develops innovative strategies to prevent or treat these diseases. We focus on cardiopulmonary fibroblasts and how their unique phenotypic signatures can be targeted to halt their fibrotic machinery. We uniquely leverage our engineering expertise to address mechanobiological inputs that drive cardiopulmonary fibrosis, by effectively combining animal models of disease with primary cell in vitro studies. Our prior accomplishments provide strong evidence for future promise to bridge key gaps in our understanding that leads to development of novel treatment strategies. Initially, we focused on HVD, but have since expanded into general cardiopulmonary fibrosis, including PAH, which results in right heart failure, and fibrosis following MI. These new pursuits are complementary to our well-established research program in HVD and combining my laboratory’s NHLBI research portfolio would allow us to make rapid progress and translate our findings to patients by: 1) building on past accomplishments, while sustaining present efforts and being nimble enough to pursue opportunities presented in the course of research activities; 2) solidifying the value of cardiopulmonary mechanobiology and positioning my group to not only continue our research but to “seed” expertise more broadly in the NHLBI community; 3) maximizing common use of costly reagents and animal models more effectively; 4) supporting my group of eight trainees at steady state, including two junior faculty.
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