Multidisciplinary Training in Translational Cardiovascular Research

Funding is available to support predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.

The training program in Translational Cardiovascular Research at Columbia University Medical Center is conceived to enhance and ensure the development of cardiovascular scientists who have broadly-based knowledge in the fields of Cardiovascular Cell Biology, Biophysics, Genetics and Genomics, Bio- and Tissue-Engineering and Clinical Sciences. The training will be based within the Clyde and Helen Wu Center for Molecular Cardiology, the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, the Department of Medicine, and the Judith Sulzberger Genome Center, which includes an NIH Roadmap Functional Genomics High Throughput Screening Center headed by James Rothman. The Center and the Departments of Physiology and Medicine have well-established Cardiovascular seminar series and journal clubs, joint laboratory meetings, and retreats, which are designed to encourage collaborations and foster excellence. Our training program seeks to train tomorrow’s cardiovascular scientists and prepare them with clinical/pathophysiological insights, thus enabling the development of a group of investigators that is focused upon clinically relevant investigation. Applicants will be encouraged to choose more than one mentor (co-mentors) within the training program, thereby fostering collaborative efforts and further enhancing training.


Training program administration:
Program Director- Dr. Andrew R. Marks joined the Columbia faculty in 1997 as the inaugural Director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine. In March 2003 he was appointed Chair of the Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics. He now holds professorships in both departments and is an attending physician on the cardiology service of New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Program Co-Director- Dr. Ira Tabas is Professor of Medicine and Anatomy and Cell Biology, Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and Vice-Chairman for Research in the Department of Medicine.

Associate Director for Trainee’s Development: Dr. Jaime S. Rubin, who until recently
was the Acting Associate Dean and Acting Associate Vice President for Research Administration at the Medical Center, recently joined the Dept of Medicine as Director of Research Development. Dr. Rubin has long been involved in education, training, and career development of junior investigators at the Medical Center. 

Areas of research:

Cardiovascular Cell Biology:
Cardiovascular Cell Biology is a multidisciplinary research group consisting of both senior investigators and junior faculty. Dr. Alan Tall is head of the Molecular Medicine Division in the Department of Medicine and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics. Other investigators within this unit include Dr. James Rothman (also head of the Genomics group; see below) who studies intracellular transport and membrane biology, Dr. Ira Goldberg, the Director of the Division of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition and an expert on lipid metabolism, Dr. Henry Ginsberg, the head of the Clinical Research Center at Columbia also with expertise in lipid metabolism,
Dr. Ira Tabas, the Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Medicine and renowned expert in macrophage biology and atherosclerosis,
Dr. Jeanine D’Armiento, (the Associate Dean for Gender Equity) who studies the role of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) in the vascular wall, and Dr. Domenico Accili, who leads the Department of Medicine’s NIH-funded Diabetes Research Unit.

(2) Cardiovascular Biophysics:
Columbia University’s rich tradition in ion channel research is strengthened by an outstanding group of investigators studying ionchannel biophysics and membrane/cell signaling. Dr. Robert Kass has contributed greatly to the training of fellows and junior faculty incardiovascular ion channels and is recognized as an authority oncardiac ion channel function. Dr. Andrew Marks (the PI of the grant)studies intracellular calcium release channels (ryanodine receptorsand inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate receptors) in cardiac and skeletalmuscle, and together with
Dr. Steven Marx are responsible for developing sirolimus (rapamycin) for use on drug eluting stents. Dr.Marks has recently found novel compounds that fix a leak in RyR channels and ameliorate heart failure and prevent sudden cardiac death in animal models. Dr. Arthur Karlin and Dr. Steven Marx are collaborating to identify the structural basis for beta subunitmodulation of the BK channel, the large conductance calcium and voltage gated channel expressed in smooth muscle cells, responsible in large part for regulating vascular tone. Dr. Ming Zhou, who was recently recruited to Columbia University, studies the structure of potassium channels using combined biophysics and X-raycrystallography. Dr. Qais Al-Awqati has a long-standing interest inthe regulation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). Dr. Steven Siegelbaum and Dr. Michael Rosen collaborate, studying the hyperpolarization-activated cyclicnucleotide gated, cation nonselective channel (HCN) in the heart.

(3) Genetics and Genomics:
This unit is designed to capitalize upon the Roadmap Initiative of Dr. Rothman, recently
funded by the NIH. Dr. Rothman has developed cardiovascular-relevant collaborations with, D. Accilli, R. Liebel, A. Marks and I. Tabas. Other investigators include Dr. Ali Gharavi, whose laboratory is focused on identifying novel genes responsible for nephropathy and hypertension, Dr. Rudy Leibel, whose laboratory is focused on identifying genes (and relevant allelic variants) related to obesity and/or type 2 diabetes in rodents and human, and Dr. Wendy Chung (Director of the Pediatric Heart Network Genetic Core and Clinical Genetics Program), whose research relates to the molecular genetics of congential heart disease and cardiomyopathies.

(4) Bio- and Tissue- Engineering and Computational Biology:
The group is led by a recent recruit to Columbia University, Dr. Gordona Vunjak-Novakovic, a leader in tissue engineering of the myocardium. Dr. Jeffrey Holmes runs the Cardiac Mechanics Laboratory, which is part of the Cardiac Biomechanics Group, within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Stephane Carlier, who directs a laboratory focused on optimizing intravascular ultrasound. For students interested in cardiovascular computational biology, Dr. Ravi Iyengar (Mount Sinai), whose expertise in signaling domains and G-protein coupled receptors/signaling provides an outstanding training opportunity.

(5) Translational Research Group.
Dr. J. Thomas Bigger, a renowned clinical electrophysiology investigator, is now performing NIH-funded clinical trials in diabetes and also has a Roadmap Initiative. Dr. Donna Mancini, Director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant program and Marks have collaborated in demonstrating that rapamycin can prevent progression of accelerated arteriopathy following cardiac transplantation providing the only effective therapy for this major limitation on cardiac transplants. Dr. Mario Deng is developing with collaborators a non-invasive biomarker screen for cardiac transplant rejection. For those trainees working with our diabetes or atherosclerosis group (in Cell Biology Unit) a collaboration can be established with Dr. Lori Mosca, who heads Cardiology’s Preventive Health initiatives. Columbia University Medical Center has recently recruited one of the leading groups in Interventional Cardiology, who have established a large animal research facility (Skirball Center). Associated with this group are an outstanding group of investigators exploring outcomes (Dr. Roxana Mehran), cell-based therapies (Dr. Warren Sherman) and imaging (Dr. Stephane Carlier).

Special Features of the training program:
Tutorial in Cardiovascular Science- Pre-doctoral trainees meet twice monthly over a three year period for tutorials with a senior faculty member (Marks, Tabas or other faculty from the training program). Discussions are based on assigned readings of original papers, reviews and texts. Groups no larger than 10 may include post-doctoral trainees, MD/PhD and medical students.

Year 1 concentrates on basic molecular physiology and biochemistry of the heart, including cardiac development, excitation-contraction coupling, cardiac excitability, growth regulation of cardiomyocytes, and regulation of cardiac function by neuronal and hormonal mechanisms. Included in this year are a 4-session tutorial in basic membrane biology with Dr. James Rothman and a 2-session tutorial in developmental cell differentiation with Dr. Qais Al-Awqati.

Year 2 integrates and extends the basic studies to explore systemic functions, including generation of cardiac rhythms, cardiac and peripheral hemodynamics, physiologic hypertrophy, and roles of the vascular endothelium and smooth muscle.

Year 3 builds on the foregoing to examine the functional abnormalities resulting in such cardiovascular disorders as heart failure, arrhythmias, and hypertension. Etiologic and epidemiologic factors, including genetic, nutritional, and infectious causes are discussed. In this year students are taken to the New York Presbyterian Hospital to see selected patients with major cardiovascular diseases to demonstrate vividly the impact on human physiology. Each student is also asked to write a review on a current topic of interest and to lead a discussion based on the review.

Combined Program Activities for Both Pre- and Post-doctoral trainees- All trainees will participate in the following activities:
* Journal Club in Molecular Cardiology. At appropriate times in their training, trainees are asked to lead such sessions. A list of sample topics reviewed in the past year is given in Appendix. This format provides excellent teaching experience for each post-doctoral fellow.

* “Frontiers in Cardiovascular Biology” is a distinguished speaker seminar series held every other month. Trainees meet with Drs. Marks and Tabas to choose and host the speakers, and there is a lunch for speaker and trainees following the seminar.

* Trainees attend and participate in an annual, one-day retreat of the Department of Physiology. In addition to formal lectures by faculty and discussions by all, there is a poster session with contributions from trainees and faculty.

* A trainee research seminar series is held every Tuesday evening. Students in the later years of their research training present their work to their peers in the absence of any faculty. A light meal is provided. We emphasize to the trainees the importance of acquiring teaching and communication skills. At appropriate times in their training the trainees are expected to make presentations and lead sessions in the activities listed above.