Reza Ardehali, MD, PhD
Photo: Reza Ardehali

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Elected 2019

I am a physician-scientist studying the molecular mechanisms involved in heart development and disease. Of particular interest to my lab is the intrinsic signaling that trigger cardiac regeneration early in life, molecular events that regulate developmental decisions instructing cardiac progenitors to adopt a specific cell fate, and delivery approaches of cardiovascular progenitors into an injured heart. My laboratory uses pluripotent stem cells for disease modeling, as well as for regenerative purposes. We recently developed an efficient method to generate chamber-specific cardiomyocytes from differentiating pluripotent stem cells for transplantation. We have initiated pre-clinical studies of transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in large animal myocardial infarction models.

My lab also uses novel transgenic mouse models for lineage tracing and fate mapping during cardiac development and after experimental injury. We have developed mouse models for longitudinal investigation of clonal analysis at a single cell level. These studies have shown the extent of cardiomyocyte proliferation during development and after injury. Our lineage tracing studies have also led to the discovery of the developmental origin of cardiac fibroblasts.

I am a practicing cardiologist, specializing in advanced heart failure and heart transplantation. I devote approximately 30% of my time to patient care and education and the remaining is spent on my research. I received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in 2014. I was also the recipient of the AHA outstanding Young Investigator Award and the Douglas Zipes Distinguished Yung Scientist Award.