Shawn B. Bender, PhD

The long-term goal of our research program is to elucidate mechanisms of obesity-associated coronary microvascular dysfunction and thereby identify novel pathways and therapeutic targets to reduce cardiovascular complications in these patients. The central premise of our work is that coronary microvascular dysfunction and the resultant impairment of coronary blood flow control is an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in obese, diabetic patients. Impaired coronary microvascular function is estimated to account for more than 60% of cardiac perfusion defects in patients with type 2 diabetes. Thus, coronary microvascular dysfunction is a significant contributor to impaired cardiac function, ischemia, infarct, and mortality in these patients.

Current projects in the laboratory focus on the role of the aldosterone-binding mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) as a mediator of coronary and cardiac dysfunction in obesity. A growing body of evidence has implicated MR signaling in vascular cells as an important mediator of vascular and cardiac dysfunction in various disease states. Our studies utilize an integrative combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches including cell/tissue culture and clinically relevant mouse models coupled with molecular techniques.