MCW Cardiovascular Center Faculty & Labs
Faculty and labs included on this page are currently housed in the Cardiovascular Center.
CVC Members
John Auchampach, PhD, a professor in Pharmacology, has an NIH-funded laboratory focuses on ischemic heart disease, cardiac regeneration, and drug development.
Ivor J. Benjamin MD, FAHA, FACC, is a board-certified specialist and consultant in internal medicine and cardiology. His clinical interests are general cardiology, inheritable heart failure, and myocardial infarction.
The Beyer lab investigates the contribution of mitochondrial defects to development of microvascular defects in multiple disease phenotypes. Specific projects include understanding the underlying mechanism that contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD) and the role of microvascular (dys)function in chemotherapy induced cardiovascular events (Cardio Oncology).
Dr. Julie Freed researches sphingolipids in the development of endothelial dysfunction in the human microcirculation. Elevated plasma levels of ceramide, a prototypical sphingolipid, is now considered an independent risk factor for major adverse cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy people.
Aron Geurts, PhD, MCW Professor, leads an NIH-funded research team focused on innovating novel approaches to genetic engineering.
Michaela Patterson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy
mpatterson@mcw.edu
The Patterson Lab seeks to understand the genetic, molecular and cellular processes that allow for endogenous heart cells, cardiomyocytes, to re-enter the cell cycle and regenerate lost cardiac muscle tissue.
The Kevin Regner laboratory investigates the cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms involved in ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) and kidney repair.
Dr. Sorci-Thomas's research focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in high density lipoprotein apoA-I-mediated protection against the progression of human disease.
Dr. Michael E. Widlansky's human vascular research laboratory has been formed to foster collaboration with investigators from other disciplines interested in the impact of vascular function on disease states relevant to their fields of interest.
The overall emphasis of Dr. Zhang’s research is to understand signaling mechanisms in regulation of blood vessel reactivity and homeostasis under normal states as well as in diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, and diabetes. The current research is focused on the vascular regulation by ion channels such as transient receptor potential (TRP) channels and K+ channels.