Biography

My scientific interest has always been focused in the cardiovascular system. My experimental research training is broad (cellular and molecular biology) yet comprehensive. Early on I studied two important hormonal systems essential for blood pressure homeostasis and heart hypertrophy and failure: the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and the Atrial Natriuretic Factor. I obtained a M.Sc. from Univ. of Montreal, Ph.D. from McGill Univ. in the process and I was fortunate to complement my training in molecular cardiology during my postdoc at Mass Gen Hospital. Aside the intense molecular biology training, I was exposed to large animal models (dogs and pigs) of heart failure and hypertrophy. And since 1996, associated with the Cardiothoracic Divisions (BIDMC and now RIH), I have been studying the effects of drugs and supplements in hypercholesterolemic and diabetic pigs subjected to chronic and acute models of myocardial ischemia.