Research

The Pulmonary Circulation Center is recognized at national and international levels for its research and clinical programs. 

Through a multi-disciplinary approach, PCC faculty and staff have the opportunity to actively develop unique research resources from basic sciences to epidemiology. 

Basic and Translational Activities

  • Role of the thromboxane prostanoid receptor in right ventricular adaptation to pressure overload
  • Role of insulin resistance and fatty acid metabolism on pulmonary vascular disease and right ventricular dysfunction
  • Identification of lung markers of pulmonary vascular dysfunction in patients with left heart failure
  • Discovery of mechanisms that drive pulmonary vascular disease and right heart failure and identification of key points of intervention
  • TGFBR3 as a Novel Regulator of Endothelial and Metabolic Function in PAH Pulmonary arterial hypertension
  • A Pathogenic Role for the Natriuretic Peptide Clearance Receptor in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.
  • A Pathogenic Role for Natriuretic Peptide Receptor-C in Pulmonary Hypertension and Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
  • Understanding the effects of pulsatile flow on smooth muscle cells in engineered microvasculature to enable regulation of vascular resistance
  • Activity and therapeutic antagonism of the TP receptor in cardiomyopathy of muscular dystrophy
  • Interventions Against the Molecular Etiology of BMPR2-induced PAH
  • Epidemiology of pulmonary hypertension in chronic renal and liver failure

Genomic Analysis and Statistical Core

  1. Role of bone marrow cells in pathogenesis and therapy of heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension
  2. Pulmonary vascular disease and right ventricular dysfunction driven by genetic drivers of metabolic disease (e.g. diabetes and obesity)
  3. Large-scale discovery of genetic contributors to pulmonary hypertension in the community

Clinical and Enrolling Studies

  • Risk and Resilience in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Genetically Susceptible Individuals 
  • Network Medicine and Systems Pharmacology to Advance Precision Medicine in Combined Pulmonary Hypertension 
  • Hormonal, Metabolic and Signaling Interactions in PAH-Project 1: Sex Hormones in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension -Parent     
  • Genomic and Circulating Predictors of PAH response 
  • PPHNet Biospecimen Laboratory Depot (PPHNet-BOLD) 
  • Clinical and Biochemical Features of Metabolic Dysregulation in Formerly Preterm Children 
  • Mhove-pph study: Mobile health intervention to improve exercise in pediatric ph 
  • Estrogen signaling and energy metabolism in pulmonary arterial hypertension 
  • Effect of PDE5 Inhibition on Adipose Metabolism in Humans 
  • Clinical and Mechanistic Understanding of Right Ventricular Steatosis in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension 
  • The MObile Health InterVEntion in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (MOVE PAH) study 
  • Clinical, Genetic, and Proteomic Risk Factors for Pulmonary Hypertension in Heart Failure 
  • The Road to Destination Therapy: Optimizing Long-Term Mechanical Cardiopulmonary Support for Pulmonary Hypertension 
  • Systemic sclerosis (SSc) vasculopathy: Improved clinical monitoring and treatment 
$11,000,000

in research grant funding 

Sponsored Research

2020-current, total NIH/foundation/industry funding:

(7) RO1, (1) R03, (1) R21, (1) R34, (1) R61, (1) K08, (1) K24, (1) PO1 

Sponsors

Academic Collaborations

  • Boston University
  • Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  • Charlotte Bloomberg Children’s Center and All Children’s Hospital (Johns Hopkins)
  • Children’s Hospital Boston (Harvard University)
  • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania)
  • Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons
  • Denver Children’s Hospital (University of Colorado)
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital (Stanford)
  • Mayo Clinic
  • Medical University of South Carolina
  • Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York (Columbia University)
  • Mount Sinai Health System
  • Seattle Children’s Hospital
  • Stanford University
  • Stollery Children’s Hospital (University of Edmonton)
  • Texas Children’s Hospital
  • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
  • The University of California, San Francisco
  • UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (University of California at San Francisco)
  • University of Arizona
  • University of Florida
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Minnesota
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Weill Cornell Medical Center
  • Yale University