My basic research interests are on the cell-specific responses to myocardial injury with a particular focus on understanding the role of pro-inflammatory molecules in the transition from compensated to decompensated myocardial failure. For nearly 25 years I have been investigating how cells in the heart “speak” to one another in normal and abnormal growth with a particular interest on the cardiac fibroblasts which initiate the process of scarring within the heart muscle following injury.

My clinical interests are in the arena of risk reduction for patients without known disease (primary prevention) but also in those with established disease (secondary prevention). I am particularly interested in how to engage patients in self-care using the wide variety of apps and wearables which allow for the accumulation of physiologic data over time and in monitoring how these can be modified by both behavioral cues but also in observing the response to therapies in their daily routines. In addition the advent of genome sequence data opens up another area for study in the field of prevention as well as in the patient-specific response to therapy, so-called personalized medicine.