Overview

I am a translational cardiovascular scientist with a long-standing interest in vascular wall inflammation and treatment of ischemic heart disease, with originally being trained as a clinical cardiologist then as a basic science researcher, I have the skill-sets in various fields, including translational cardiovascular pathologies, molecular biology, and inflammation. I obtained my PhD from the University of Sheffield, UK in 2016, after discovering that in ischemic heart disease patients, the leaderless cytokine interleukin-1β is processed and released by the endothelium. My research vision is to develop a cellular therapy targeted approach to treat ischemic heart disease patients. The short-term goals of my research program, for which I received an AHA Career Development Award, are to understand how endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition develops in response to the atherogenic disturbed blood flow and how that influences atherosclerosis progression and plaque instability. I am a passionate mentor/ teacher and through my experience and service on the ATVB Early Career Committee and my liaison position with the ATVB Women’s Leadership Committee, I recognize and support the career development of many young trainees in the cardiovascular field.