Cardiovascular Sciences
Introduction/Significance
Cardiovascular disease is the
number one killer of both men and women in the United States. Texas
A&M University has a long-standing history of excellence in
cardiovascular science in several collaborating colleges, including
a unique ability to perform translational research on client owned
animals with naturally occurring heart disease (e.g., Doberman
pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy) referred to the Veterinary
Teaching Hospital. This relationship is schematically represented
in Figure 1 to identify the participants in the cardiovascular
science program and the central role of the Michael E. DeBakey
Institute that was created in 1999 to formalize programmatic
relationship between units. The Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and
Engineering have shared faculty and teaching responsibilities for
more than 30 years, while the Colleges of Education and Medicine
have become an integral part of the cardiovascular science program
during the past 20 years. Basic science studies have progressed to
the point where clinical implementation requires a strong
relationship with both the human and veterinary clinical units. The
veterinary clinical cardiovascular program is considered to be one
of the top 2 programs in the US, and its faculty have developed
preeminent programs for training veterinary cardiology residents,
performing veterinary clinical trials to determine safety and
efficacy of new cardiac therapeutics, and for performing
interventional cardiac studies (e.g., coronary stents, pacemakers).
The importance of using animals with naturally occurring disease is
only recently begun to be recognized as a very powerful tool in the
development and testing of new cardiovascular agents and TAMU is
well positioned to become a world leader in this area.
The Texas Institute for Preclinical Services (TIPS) will enable
TAMU to more successfully compete for interdisciplinary biomedical
research dollars. TIPS will house state-of-the-art core imaging
equipment located in a facility with access to numerous animal
models. The clinical cardiovascular group, currently comprised of 3
cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon and in dire need of expansion,
has a strong relationship with the biomedical engineering group and
has collaborated on numerous cardiovascular related projects
totaling in excess of 10 M dollars in NIH and AHA funding in the
past 6 years. Additionally, TIPS, the CV clinical program, and BMEN
collaborated to hire a new BMEN faculty member using ETF funds
which has added great strength to our interventional cardiovascular
program.
The
basic science cardiovascular science program has been extremely
successful in attracting extramural funding to support its mission
(approximately $60,000,000 over 8 years). The program is in the
process of transitioning from an individual investigator- based
program to one in which programmatic proposals (Program Project,
Center Grant and Training Grant) provide overarching funding for
new core facilities and additional graduate students. Additional
faculty are needed to expand both the breadth and depth of faculty
to fully qualify for program level funding. The cardiovascular
sciences program has a proven track record which portends an
excellent "return on investment" associated
with the addition of new faculty positions. This return, coupled
with the reduction of death and disability from cardiovascular
disease, provides the foundation of this request.
Faculty
Ph.D. Protein Biochemistry, Osaka University 2001
M.S. Department of Biochemistry, Jilin University, China 1997
B.S Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jilin University, China 1994
Research Assistant Professor
M.S. Veterinary Sciences, Ohio State University 1993
Residency Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University 1988
D.V.M. Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University 1984
Diplomate Cardiology, ACVIM
Senior Professor
Diplomate Cardiology, ACVIM 2005
Residency Cardiology, Texas A&M University 2005
Internship The University of Tennessee 2002
D.V.M. Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University 2001
B.S. Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University 1998
Associate Professor
DVS Cardiology, Ontario Veterinary College 1998
D.V.M. Ontario Veterinary College 1994
B.S. Toxicology, University of Guelph 1990
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Experimental Pathology, University of Alabama in Birmingham 1982
M.S. Experimental Pathology, University of Alabama in Birmingham 1979
D.V.M. Veterinary Science, Auburn University 1971
Clinical Professor
Clinical Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Physiology & Biophysics-Minor Bio. Med. Eng., Texas A&M University 1979
M.S. Work in Physics-Minor in Microbiology, University of Louisiana 1976
B.S. Microbiology-Minor in Chemistry, University of Louisiana 1974
Professor
Postdoc non-coding RNA, hematopoiesis, Whitehead Institute/MIT 2009
Ph.D Molecular and Cell Biology/Reproductive Biology, Northwestern University 2004
M.S Molecular and Cell Biology, Peking University 1999
Assistant Professor
