CLINICAL INTERESTS:
Cardio-Oncology, Cardio-Immunology

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
I am a cardiologist and myocyte biologist. My clinical focus is cardio-oncology and cardio-immunology. My clinical interests overlap with my laboratory focus, where we are investigating the mechanistic underpinnings of cardiovascular sequelae of novel targeted and immune-based cancer therapies.

Since 2016, a major focus of my clinical and research program has been the interaction between the cardiovascular and immune systems. Our group initially described a novel clinical syndrome of fulminant myocarditis that arises from (ICI) immune checkpoint inhibitors (Johnson et al, NEJM, 2016). We further defined the clinical characteristics of ICI-associated myocarditis (Moslehi et al, Lancet, 2018) and showed that cardiovascular sequelae of ICI include pericarditis, vasculitis and arrhythmias (Salem et al, Lancet Oncology, 2018). My laboratory has generated mouse models that recapitulate these novel immune-based clinical syndromes which have provided insights into new diagnostic and treatment strategies for these complications (Bonaca et al, Circulation, 2019; Salem et al, NEJM, 2019; Wei et al, Cancer Discovery, 2021). My interest in this space has recently expanded to other inflammatory cardiomyopathies, including giant cell myocarditis, acute cellular rejection (ACR) following cardiac transplantation, and other forms of myocarditis. Our group is further investigating the how the immune system can be harnessed to treat heart disease.