Vascular & Cardiac Biology

Opportunities abound for research training in Vascular and Cardiac Biology. UCSF's Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) both provides a home for such research and fosters interactions among investigators throughout UCSF who are interested in cardiovascular biology and disease. The spectrum of investigation ranges from basic structural and chemical biology through cell biology, signaling and invertebrate and vertebrate models of cardiovascular development and disease to human genetics and patient-based disease research. CVRI faculty are represented on all UCSF campuses save Mt. Zion with concentrations on Parnassus and in the new Smith Cardiovascular Research Building at Mission Bay.

 

The Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) is located at Gladstone's new research facility adjacent to UCSF's Mission Bay campus. While independent, Gladstone is formally affiliated with UCSF, and Gladstone investigators hold university appointments and participate in many university activities, including the teaching and training of graduate students. GICD's mission is to contribute to the health and welfare of humankind through research into the causes and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

 

Participating Faculty

Manish Aghi, MD, PhD, MAS

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Defining the interaction between tumor cells and the microenvironment in glioblastoma, including during therapeutic resistance

Michael Alexanian, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Our team studies how chromatin receives, processes, and amplifies environmental stress signals that drive changes in cell states leading to heart disease.

Brian Black, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Transcriptional Control of Mammalian Organogenesis
Mentorship Development: 

11/23/20    Building Community in the UCSF MSTP

Benoit Bruneau, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Transcriptional regulation of cardiac morphogenesis and differentiation

John Chorba, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary: 
The Chemical Biology of Cardiometabolic Disease
Mentorship Development: 

The central theme of the Chorba Lab is to model clinically relevant phenomena in a controlled environment. The major goals are to develop new therapies, targets, and diagnostics that change paradigms in medicine. Inspired by clinical practice, we 1) develop biochemical tools and 2) tackle seemingly undruggable targets to 3) understand the mechanistic basis of cardiometabolic disease and beyond. We work at the interface of chemistry and biology, using the bidirectionality of bench-to-bedside research to expand our findings from any given disease model to the fundamental biology at play.

Onur Cil, MD, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Drug discovery/repurposing and disease pathogenesis mechanisms for renal, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular diseases.

Trevor Fidler, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Research Summary: 
We are interested in understanding how dysfunctional hematopoiesis leads to dysfunctional immune cells which can modulate cardiovascular disease.

Susan Fisher, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
Placental Biology/Bacterial Adhesion

Douglas Gould, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Developmental & Stem Cell Biology
Research Summary: 
Genetic Dissection of Extracellular Matrix in Development and Disease
Mentorship Development: 

12/2020 - Setting Expectations with a "Welcome to the Lab' Letter (Parts 1 and 2)
5/2021 - Sharpening your Mentoring Skills (SyMS)

Carl Grunfeld, MD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Immunology
Research Summary: 
Metabolic Changes and the Host Response to Infection

Saptarsi Haldar, MD, BS

Primary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Tissue / Organ Biology & Endocrinology
Research Summary: 
Gene Regulation and Epigenetics in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Physiology/Disease

Akiko Hata, PhD

Primary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Vascular & Cardiac Biology
Research Summary: 
TGFbeta family of signaling pathway

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