Our two-fold mission is to improve the quality of human life through creative basic and translational research in cardiovascular disease, and to build a legacy of outstanding scholarship, scientific achievement, and therapeutic discovery. We will accomplish our mission by providing a challenging, results-oriented environment for training and developing future generations of researchers and physician-scientists.

Clinical Trials:

Clinical trial of adult stem cells for congestive heart failure. Clinical trial of adult stem cells for claudication. Clinical trial of adult stem cells for critical limb ischemia. See http://www.fcvri.northwestern.edu/regenerative-medicine/index.html

Director:

Douglas W. Losordo, M.D.

Background of Director:

Douglas W. Losordo received both a BS degree and an MD degree from the University of Vermont at Burlington. He completed fellowships in molecular biology, interventional cardiology, and cardiology at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Losordo joined the faculty at Tufts University School of Medicine in 1983 and was appointed professor of medicine in 2004. In 2001 he became chief of Cardiovascular Research at St. Elizabeth’s and in 2003 was appointed as acting chief of cardiology. He joined Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine in late 2006 as the director of the Institute.

His committee memberships include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ad Hoc Study Section in Molecular Medicine and Atherosclerosis, NIH Special Emphasis Panel in Tissue Engineering and the Atherogenic Microenvironment, and the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Special Emphasis Panel. From 2006–07 he served as chair of the American Society of Gene Therapy's Cardiovascular Gene Therapy Committee. Dr. Losordo is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He has served on the editorial boards of Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Radiation Medicine Including Molecular Interventions, Circulation Research, Stem Cells, and Vascular Medicine. He is currently associate editor for Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine and Circulation Research.

His research interests focus on angiogenesis/vasculogenesis; progenitor/adult stem cells; tissue repair/regeneration; vascular biology; and the effects of estradiol on vascular tissue. Dr. Losordo is the author or co-author of over 100 articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Committed to collaborative research, Dr. Losordo encourages and supports close communication among Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute’s faculty members, both within the Institute and with external researchers. Dr. Losordo maintains a robust laboratory research program involving a variety of projects focused on regenerative medicine.

Current Projects:

Regenerative medicine approaches being investigated in our Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine program include:

• Gene therapy, which attempts to increase the production of naturally occuring proteins or nucleic acids. This approach relies on the insertion of genes into diseased cells and tissues to increase production of factors that can aid in tissue repair. These genes might include growth factors to stimulate repair of damaged blood vessels or “master control genes”, normally expressed during organ development, that can modulate multiple pathways of tissue repair.
• Autologous stem cell therapy, which attempts to regenerate and replenish tissue by increasing the supply of naturally occurring reparative cells at sites of damage. This approach relies on the phenomenon of plasticity – autologous stem cells from one tissue generating specialized cells of another tissue. An example is bone marrow stem cells inserted into diseased heart muscle resulting in regenerated, healthy cardiac muscle and blood vessels.

Major Accomplishments:

The Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute boasts the first U.S. based study of adult stem cells for coronary disease.

Contact Information:

303 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
http://www.fcvri.northwestern.edu/