Cardiology

A five-year Institutional Research Training Grant was awarded to the Division of Pediatric Cardiology in July 2004 titled "Cardiovascular Development and Disease in the Young" (Principal Investigator: Michael R Rosen, M.D, Co-Principal Investigator: Seema Mital M.D). This is an NIH funded program to train MDs and PhDs motivated to pursue careers in clinical or basic science that focus on cardiac development and pediatric heart disease. The approach to training is multidisciplinary, involving research across collaborating laboratories within the training unit and focuses on translation between basic research and its clinical application, as well as the identification of clinical questions amenable to solution in the basic research laboratory. The program provides funding to support trainees for two years of research with the aim of preparing them for an independent career in research.

The program's goals are to provide training in 1) the anatomic and electrophysiologic development of the normal and abnormal heart, 2) the role of genetic and environmental risk factors and gene-environment interactions in the development of cardiac disease, 3) development and use of sensitive and innovative imaging tools for non-invasive diagnosis and assessment of cardiac development and disease. An additional goal is to promote rapid dissemination of the findings from laboratory studies to clinical application in the prevention and treatment of cardiac disease in the young.

These goals translate into the following major training components, supported by six core facilities: (1) Genetic determinants of cardiac disease (Drs. Wendy Chung, Rudy Leibel, Robert Kass), (2) Transcriptional and translational regulation of cardiac disease including disorders of electrophysiologic (Drs. Richard Robinson, Steven Feinmark, Robert Kass, Michael Rosen) and molecular (Drs. Seema Mital, Susan Steinberg) signaling pathways in cardiac development and remodeling, and (3) Phenotypic expression of disease including translation of laboratory findings to bedside (Drs. Charles Kleinman, Henry Spotnitz).

Training Grant Faculty Mentors:

Michael R Rosen, M.D
Gustavus A Pfeiffer Professor of Pharmacology
Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Center for Molecular Therapeutics
Principal Investigator

Seema Mital, M.D
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Cardiology)
Co-Principal Investigator

Wendy K Chung, M.D
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Genetics)

Steven J Feinmark, PhD
Senior Research Scientist (Pharmacology)

Robert Kass, Ph.D
David Hosack Professor and Chair of Pharmacology

Charles Kleinman, M.D
Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Cardiology)

Rudolph Leibel, M.D
Professor of Pediatrics (Pediatric Genetics)

Richard Robinson, Ph.D
Professor of Pharmacology

Henry Spotnitz, M.D
Professor of Surgery

Susan Steinberg, M.D
Professor of Pharmacology

External Advisory Committee:

Michael Artman, M.D
Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital of Iowa

Bruce D Gelb, M.D
The Arthur J. and Nellie Z. Cohen Professor of Pediatrics
Professor of Human Genetics
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

George Lister, M.D
Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics
Southwestern Medical School