Events Calendar

AME Seminar

Speaker: Julio Chirinos, University of Pennsylvania

Talk Title: Role of Arterial Stiffness and Pulsatile Hemodynamics in Target Organ Damage: Implications for Human Health

Abstract: The normal aorta exerts a powerful cushioning function, which limits arterial pulsatility and protects the microvasculature from excessive fluctuations in pressure and blood flow. Large-artery stiffening, which occurs with aging and various pathologic states, impairs this cushioning function, and has important consequences on target organs, including the brain, the heart, the kidneys and the placenta. Arterial stiffness also appears to be implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiometabolic disease. Large-artery stiffness represents a high-priority therapeutic target to ameliorate the global burden of cardiovascular disease in the next several decades. We will discuss key physiologic and biophysical principles related to arterial stiffness and the impact of aortic stiffening on target organs and associated disease states.

Biography: Julio A. Chirinos, MD, PhD is a Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, Co-Director of the Clinical Research T32 Training Program in Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine, and Adjunct Faculty at the Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging, at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is a specialist in cardiac imaging (echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging). He is also adjunct Faculty at the University of Ghent in Belgium, where he maintains an active collaboration with the Asklepios Investigators. His PhD was focused on the non-invasive assessment of arterial hemodynamics. He is the President of the North American Artery Society. He directs an NIH-funded research program focused on the role of arterial stiffness and pulsatile hemodynamics in cardiovascular disease, mechanisms of human heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and the use of proteomics to discern mechanisms of human heart failure. He currently leads clinical studies designed to therapeutically target the arterial tree in order to reduce maladaptive cardiac remodeling, diastolic dysfunction, and to treat patients with HFpEF, an epidemic condition for which limited effective proven pharmacologic therapies are currently available. He also leads various cohort studies with deep cardiovascular phenotyping aimed at characterizing phenotypic profiles in humans. He co-leads a Global Heart Failure biomarker consortium, an industry-academic collaboration investigating proteomics and genomics in human heart failure. He is the University of Pennsylvania Principal Investigator and a Steering Committee member of Heart Share, a multicenter research consortium funded by the NHLBI aimed at discerning mechanisms of disease in human Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction. Dr. Chirinos has published >250 papers in high-impact journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine Evidence, The Lancet, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Circulation, Hypertension, and Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). He has received awards or honorary fellowships from the American Heart Association, the Inter-American Society of Cardiology, the American Society of Hypertension and the European Society of Cardiology. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and an honorary member of the Korean Society of Cardiology. He has also received multiple research grants from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institutes for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the American Heart Association (AHA), among others. He was one of 20 global members of the Lancet Commission for Hypertension, in charge of developing strategies and recommendations to reduce the global burden of hypertension. He has participated in various clinical expert committees for the American Heart Association, American Society of Echocardiography, European Society of Cardiology, American Society of Hypertension and European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chirinos led 2 international multicenter trials testing therapeutic strategies related to the intersection of COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease. He is also the co-PI of ongoing cohort studies to study the long-term cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19, co-chair of the Global Heart Failure Biomarker Consortium, and a Steering Committee Member of HeartShare. Both of these multicenter consortia are focused on the study of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). He is currently the President of the North American Artery society, which promotes the study of arterial function as a determinant of cardiovascular disease. He was also an Associate Editor of the American Heart Association Journal Circulation: Heart Failure, The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, Editor of the Cochrane Group (Cochrane Collaboration), Senior Consulting Editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American Heart Association, Pulse and the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology. He is the editor of a textbook on Arterial Stiffness and Pulsatile Hemodynamics (Arterial Stiffness and Pulsatile Hemodynamics in Health and Disease; Elsevier, 2022). Dr. Chirinos also directs a core analysis laboratory for assessments of cardiac and arterial structure and function with non-invasive imaging, which has served as the core lab for various multicenter studies, including population studies, American College of Radiology Network studies and industry-funded studies. He has been an invited speaker in >160 scientific sessions.

Host: AME Department

More Info: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/

Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

Location: James H. Zumberge Hall Of Science (ZHS) - 252

WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/95892885119?pwd=QXZOZUhrcTJRYk5qZzZwVThrTytVZz09

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Tessa Yao

Event Link: https://ame.usc.edu/seminars/