NIH Supported Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training
NIH Supported Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training in Tissue Remodeling and Cardiovascular Disease
This interdisciplinary and inter-institutional program offers research training to Ph.D. students as well as postdoctoral fellows interested in research in Tissue Remodeling and Cardiovascular Disease. Ph.D. students participating in this training program will be enrolled in the graduate program in one of the four research centers at Albany Medical College or in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Students are eligible for this program after completing their first year of graduate study and will perform their thesis work under the mentorship of one of the training faculty. This NIH training program, funded for over 25 years by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is designed to provide multidisciplinary research training to graduate students who wish to become independent scientists doing research in the area of tissue remodeling particularly as it relates to cardiovascular function. The research laboratories of the training faculty and their collaborative research projects provide the intellectual atmosphere for this training program which has trained outstanding professional faculty and scientists for over 20 years. The research programs of the faculty have a strong emphasis on tissue remodeling and vascular cell biology, particularly as they relate to angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, pulmonary edema, atherosclerosis, fibrosis and stroke. Specific expertise of the faculty include cell adhesion, motility and growth; extracellular matrix, plasminogen activator systems, oxidants, metalloproteases, integrin function and chemical and mechanical signal transduction pathways in vascular cells. This program has been quite successful in positioning trainees for scientific careers. Of the last 80 trainees who have completed the program, approximately 90% are either faculty or research fellows in major academic institutions or research scientists in industrial settings.
FACULTY ADVISORS/CO-ADVISORS (pending availability and grant status) for NIH Supported Predoctoral/Postdoctoral Training in Tissue Remodeling and Cardiovascular Diseases
Andrew E. Aplin, Assistant Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D.,
Institute of Psychiatry, King?s College, London, UK; Adhesion-Dependent Signaling in
Melanocytes, BRAF Mutations in Melanoma, Cell Proliferation and Survival
Dorina Avram, Assistant Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D., Oregon
State University; Transcription Factors in Lymphocyte Development, Leukemia and
Lymphoma, Cellular Proliferation and Apoptosis
Paul Black, Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., University of Vermont-
Burlington; Fatty Acid Metabolism, Gene Expression, Molecular Biochemistry
Natacha DePaola, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute; Ph.D., Harvard Medical School-MIT; Atheroslcerosis, Vascular Wall
Metabolism, Inflammation Vascular Biology
C. Michael DiPersio, Associate Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D.,
Brown University; Cell Migration, Integrin Receptor Function, Wound Healing
Paul Higgins, Professor and Director, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D., New
York University; Cellular Response to Hyperoxia, Plasminogen and Actin Cytoskeleton, Gene
Expression
Jan L. Houghton, Professor, Department of Medicine; M.D., University of Maryland-Baltimore;
Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, Coronary Vascular Relaxation, Ischemic Heart Disease and
Hypertension
Arnold Johnson, Senior Research Scientist, VA Medical Center and Associate Professor, Center
for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., Albany Medical College; Protein Kinase C, Pulmonary
Circulation, Endothelial Injury and Tumor Necrosis Factor
David Jourd'heuil, Associate Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., University of
Calgary; Nitric Oxide, Free Radical Biochemistry, Interstitial Vascular Inflammation
Rebecca Keller, Assistant Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., University of
Missouri; Cardiac Hypertrophy, Integrin Receptor Signaling, Cardiac Cell Death
Paul Kreienberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery; M.D., State University of New York
Health Science Center; Vascular Surgery, Lung Permeability, Endothelial Cell Biology
Susan E. LaFlamme, Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D., Columbia
University; Endothelial Cells and Integrins, Integrin Cytoplasmic Domains, Cell Adhesion and
Signaling
Michelle R. Lennartz, Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D., University
of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Phospholipases, Monocyte Phagocytosis, Arachidonic Acid and Cell
Signaling
Gang Liu, Assistant Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D. University of
Oxford, Oxford, UK; Messenger RNA Localization, Directed Cell Migration, Wound Healing
Daniel J. Loegering, Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., University of Western
Ontario; Cytokines and Macrophages, Immune Receptor Function, Endotoxin and Shock
Paula J. McKeown-Longo, Professor and Director, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research;
Ph.D., University of Connecticut-Storrs; Subendothelial Matrix Assembly, Urokinase Type
Plasminogen Activator, Cell Migration and Angiogenesis
J. Andre Melendez, Assistant Professor, Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease; Ph.D.,
State University of New York-Albany; Free Radical Biology, Regulation of Collagenase, Gene Expression
Albert J.T. Millis, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York-
Albany; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells, Extracellular
Matrix Turnover, Gene Expression and Collagenase
Kevin Pumiglia, Associate Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D.,
University of Connecticut Health Center; Cell Cycle Regulation, Cell Migration and Angiogenesis,
Signal Transduction Pathways
Allan S. Schneider, Professor, Center for Neuropharmacology and Neurosciences; Ph.D.,
University of California-Berkeley; Catecholamine Release and Calcium, Adrenal Chromaffin Cells,
Nicotine Tolerance
John Schwarz, Associate Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer Research; Ph.D.,
University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston; Cardiac Morphogenesis,
Biocompatibility of Cardiac Prostheses, Muscle Specific Gene Expression
Harold Singer, Professor and Director, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D., University of
Virginia School of Medicine; Vascular Smooth Muscle, Cell Proliferation, Cell Signaling
Mechanisms
Robert Spilker, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute; Sc.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Tissue Bioengineering,
Functional Imaging, Connective Tissue Mechanics
Dale D. Tang, Assistant Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; Ph.D. Tongji Medical
University, China; Smooth Muscle Contraction, The Intermediate Network, The Actin Cytoskeleton
Milt Teitler, Professor, Center for Neuropharmacology and Neurosciences; Ph.D., University of
Toronto; Receptor-Ligand Interactions, Cloning of Receptor Subtypes, Serotonin Receptors
Livingston Van De Water, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Center for Cell Biology and Cancer
Research; Ph.D. University of Rochester; Biology of Wound Healing, Vascular Permeability
Factor, Fibronectin and Collagen
Peter A. Vincent, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Center for Cardiovascular
Sciences; Ph.D., Albany Medical College; MLC Phosphorylation and TGF-beta, Cadherins
and Endothelial Permeability, Microvascular Physiology and Fibronectin
Yong Xiao Wang, Associate Professor, Center for Cardiovascular Sciences; M.D., Wannan
Medical University (China); Ph.D., Fourth Military Medical University (China); Cardiac Hypertrophy,
Ca++ Activated Chloride Channels, Airway Smooth Muscle
