Research Faculty
Kathrin Banach, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Medicine; Dr. Banach's research focuses on the intercellular communication of cardiac myocytes through gap junction channels. Changes in gap junction isoform expression or their post-translational regulation can occur during e.g. cardiac hypertrophy, atrial fibrillation or sinus node disease and lead to changes of cardiac pacemaker function, cardiac excitation spread and changes of cardiomyocyte excitability. All these can result in life threatening arrhythmias. The aim of the laboratory is to understand the functional relevant electrophysiological properties of gap junctions, as well as the mechanisms and signal transduction pathways that regulate them under physiological as well as pathophysiological conditions. In the last years the research of the laboratory has focused specifically on the role of gap junction channels in the functional integration of cardiac replacement tissue that was generated from embryonic stem cells. The laboratory was able to develop an in-vitro model of a biological cardiac pacemaker that will be tested in-vivo in the near future. kbanach@uic.edu.
Tohru Fukai, PhD - Associate Professor of Medicine; Oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of various cardiovascular diseases. The major focus of Dr. Fukai’s research is the role of extracellular superoxide dismutase (ecSOD) in cardiovascular disease. The ecSOD is one of the major copper containing antioxidant enzymes in the vasculature, and plays an important role in regulating blood pressure, neovascularization, and endothelial function by preventing oxidative inactivation of NO. Most recently, his laboratory demonstrated that copper transport system is a key regulator of ecSOD activity and expression. Thus, the long-term goal of his lab is to determine the role of copper homeostasis and copper transport system for ecSOD as well as to define their functional relationships in oxidative stress-dependent cardiovascular disease. tfukai@uic.edu.
David L. Geenen, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Medicine; Dr. Geenen’s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and Illinois Department of Public Health and encompasses the fields of regenerative medicine and stem cell biology. His particular interest is in the role of adult bone marrow derived stem cells in regenerating cardiovascular tissue. His laboratory studies the mechanisms of homing, migration and differentiation of mobilized and exogenously administered stem cells within the myocardium. He has established rodent models of cardiac ischemia and heart failure to assess the functional effect of stem cell integration. These measurements are performed using high resolution echocardiography and intraventricular pressure/volume catheters as part of the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Cardiovascular Research (CCVR). Dr. Geenen is also the Co-Director of the Program in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology of the CCVR. Most recently, his laboratory, in collaboration with interventional cardiologists Drs. John Kao and Adhir Shroff received a Clinical and Translational Science Award to conduct a Phase I clinical trial using autologous stem cell therapy in heart failure patients. geenen@uic.edu.
Paul Goldspink, PhD - Assistant Professor of Physiology in Medicine; Dr. Goldspink’s primary research interests are directed at trying to understand the adaptive and maladaptive responses of the heart to injury, disease and aging. Over the years his research has focused on understanding both transcriptional and post-translational regulation of contractile proteins in the myocardium in response to signal transduction activation. These processes and their regulation are important in cardiac disease such a hypertrophy/failure and diabetic cardiac myopathy. Recently, his laboratory has been working on the role of paracrine and autocrine signaling mechanisms as part of the remodeling and repair processes associated with the diseased myocardium. In particular, the role of a locally expressed isoform of IGF-1, called Mechano-Growth Factor (MGF), which plays a protective role by preventing cell death, preserving the contractility and mobilizing resident cardiac progenitor cells. He is presently investigating the underlying mechanisms utilizing short peptide mimetics to examine the functional regions of MGF, with the view of adapting this approach for therapeutic use. pgolds@uic.edu.
Beata Wolska, PhD – Associate Professor of Physiology in Medicine; Dr. Wolska’s work focuses on membrane and myofilament control of cardiac function, both in physiological and pathological conditions such as hypertrophy and heart failure (HF). Her first project is focused on understanding the mechanisms that link altered myofilament activity in the development of hypertrophy and HF and mutations that cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC). Goals of the project include understanding sex-specific differences in hypertrophic signaling and whether smoking augments the development of FHC and HF. Her second research project examines how nitric oxide regulates cardiac dynamics during different stages of hypertrophy and HF via alteration of myofilament properties and sarcoplasmic reticulum function. bwolska@uic.edu
