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.