Faculty Directory

Boaz Avitall, MD - Professor of Medicine; Director, Research and Clinical Electrophysiology Services.
Research: Cardiac arrhythmia ablation and Endocardial LV pacing for cardiac synchronization and atrial fibrillation suppression in the pursuit of wireless pacing technology.
Email: bavitall@uic.edu
Website: link

Kathrin Banach, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Medicine.
Research: Intercellular communication of cardiac myocytes through gap junction channels and mechanisms and signal transduction pathways that the electrophysiological properties of gap junctions.
Email: kbanach@uic.edu
Website: link

Robert Danziger, MD - Associate Professor of Medicine and Physiology.
Research: Renal hypertension and global screening strategies, genetic mapping, and cell biology to develop diagnostic strategies and therapeutic targets for
arterial hypertension.
Email: rdanzig@uic.edu
Website: link

Samuel Dudley, MD, PhD - Chief, Section of Cardiology, Director, Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology, Professor of Medicine.
Research: Role of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) system and reactive oxygen species in atrial fibrillation (AF) by downregulation of channels involved in impulse conduction.
Email: scdudley@uic.edu
Website: link

Tohru Fukai, PhD - Associate Professor of Medicine.
Research: Role of extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD) in cardiovascular disease.
Email: tfukai@uic.edu
Website: link

Robert Gaffin, Ph.D. – Director, CCVR Physiology Core.
Research: Hemodynamics and left ventricular function in animal models of heart disease. Intracellular mechanisms of contractile dysfunction and myofilament contractility in failing heart.
Email: bgaffin@uic.edu
Website: link

Jesus Garcia, MD, PhD – Associate Professor of Physiology.
Research: Role of calcium channels in signal transduction in striated muscle and to elucidate how calcium regulates gene expression during cardiac cell growth.
Email: garmar@uic.edu
Website: link

David L. Geenen, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Medicine.
Research: Intracellular mechanisms of cardiac dysfunction in ischemic heart disease and heart failure.
Email: geenen@uic.edu

Ahlke Heydemann, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics.
Research: Genetics, mechanics and function in cardiopulmonary disease in muscular dystrophy.
Email: ahlkeh@uic.edu

Tomoyoshi Kobayashi, PhD - Research Associate Professor of Physiology. Research: Molecular mechanisms whereby the Ca2+-binding to troponin C activates the thin filament to initiate contraction and how this event is modified by covalent modification under the pathophysiological conditions.
Email: tkoba@uic.edu
Website: link

George T. Kondos, MD - Professor of Medicine; Chief, Clinical Cardiology Service. Research: Evaluation and detection of subclinical cardiovascular disease using Electron Beam Computed Technology.
Email: gtkondos@uic.edu
Website: link

E. Douglas Lewandowski, PhD – Director, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Director, Program in Integrative Cardiac Metabolism, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics. 
Research: Role of metabolic flux regulation, through metabolic gene expression, and in contractile dysfunction in ischemic heart disease and heart failure, and cardiac NMR spectroscopy and imaging.
Email: dougl@uic.edu
Website: link

John O'Bryan, PhD -  Associate Professor of Pharmacology.
Research: Role of the intersectin (ITSN) scaffold protein in the regulation of a novel PI3K pathway and the involvement of this ITSN-PI3K pathway in cardioprotection from ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Email:  obryanj@uic.edu
Website: link

J. Michael O'Donnell, PhD -  Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics.
Research: How perturbations in cytosolic calcium homeostasis and metabolism, via gene overexpression and silencing, affect cardiac function and influence the development of heart failure.
Email:  odonnell@uic.edu
Website: link

Mariann R. Piano, RN, PhD - Professor, College of Nursing.
Research: Systemic (neurohormones) and cellular/molecular (mitogen-activated protein kinases, apoptosis) mechanisms that underlie the cardiotoxic effects of alcohol and how female sex hormones modulate the effects of alcohol.
Email: piano@uic.edu
Website: link

Brenda Russell, PhD - Professor of Physiology, Bioengineering and Medicine. Research: Cardiac muscle cell remodeling through complex integration of mechanical and biochemical signals that arise from hemodynamic stressors in the heart.
Email: russell@uic.edu
Website: link

Adhir Shroff, MD, MPH - Associate Professor in Medicine. Research: Percutaneous coronary intervention and clinical outcomes.
Email: arshroff@uic.edu

R. John Solaro, PhD - Distinguished University Professor and Chairman of Dept Physiology, and Director, Program in Program in Sarcomere Proteomics and Cardiac Dynamics.
Research: Mechanisms or regulation of sarcomeres, the molecular motors of heart muscle cells, and modulation of switching on the motors through changes in molecular signaling and sarcomere structure, chemistry, and mechanical state.
Email: solarorj@uic.edu
Website: link

Larry Tobacman, MD - Professor of Medicine and of Physiology & Biophysics. Research: control of cardiac muscle contraction by troponin and tropomyosin, 3-D helical reconstruction, effects of cardiomyopathy-inducing thin filament mutations on protein folding and function, the biophysics of molecular motors, and amide hydrogen exchange studies of troponin and tropomyosin dynamics.
Email: lst@uic.edu
Website: link

Masuko Ushio-Fukai, PhD - Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology.
Research: Role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in growth-related signaling in the vasculature with emphasis on postnatal neovascularization and stem/progenitor cell function.
Email: mfukai@uic.edu
Website: link

Terry Vanden Hoek, MD - Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Research: Role of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) species in Akt and Stat3 regulated cardiovascular outcomes after cardiac arrest and hemorrhagic shock. 
Email: tvh@uic.edu

Beata Wolska, PhD – Professor of Physiology in Medicine.
Research: Membrane and myofilament control of cardiac function, both in physiological and pathological conditions such as hypertrophy and heart failure (HF).
Email: bwolska@uic.edu
Website: link

Lei Xiao, MD, PhD - Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Research: Signal transduction mechanisms of G protein coupled receptors (GPCR), NADPH oxidase (NOX), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and TLR-4 receptors in cardiac diseases.
Email: leixiao@uic.edu
Website: link

Jason X.J. Yuan, MD, PhD - Director, Program in Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Right Heart Function, Professor of Medicine.
Research: Genetic and pathogenic mechanisms of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
Email: jxyuan@uic.edu
Website: link