About the lab

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States.

Our lab primarily focuses on the role that sphingolipids have in the development, or prevention of, microvascular endothelial dysfunction, which occurs before the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Elevated plasma levels of ceramide, a prototypical sphingolipid, is now considered an independent risk factor for major adverse cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy people. Our team aims to understand how these lipids are regulated within the endothelium of the human microvasculature. We study these mechanisms in human microvessels by utilizing discarded surgical specimens from patients diagnosed with CAD, and those with only 0-1 Framingham risk factors for cardiovascular disease as healthy controls. 

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