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Pictured: Research associate Amanda Charest (left) and D.O./Ph.d. Student Kelly Borges share research during the seminar鈥檚 poster presentation.

罢丑别听College of Osteopathic Medicine听(NYITCOM) hosted the second annual New York City Area Inter-Institutional Cardiovascular Retreat. Each year, the event convenes researchers from NYITCOM鈥檚听Department of Biomedical Sciences with peers from esteemed research institutions located in and around the New York City area, including Weill Cornell, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York University, and others.听

NYITCOM was selected to host this year鈥檚 event, which was held at NYIT de Seversky Mansion on September 14 and provided an opportunity to showcase scientific findings by the medical school鈥檚 faculty and students while connecting them with other investigators (and potential future co-investigators) from the New York City metro area. 

鈥淲e, the scientific community, still have much to learn about the intricacies of cardiovascular health. But research retreats such as this provide an invaluable forum for our investigators to exchange scholarly findings and ideas with other respected academics, potentially forging research collaborations that could one day result in life-saving discoveries,鈥� said University Professor and Chair of Biomedical Sciences听Martin Gerdes, Ph.D.听听听

The event kicked off with a discussion by Director of the DeMatteis Cardiovascular Institute in Greenvale, N.Y., and board-certified cardiologist Ziad Ali, M.D., D.Phil. Since fall 2022, the renowned physician has taken NYITCOM students, including听Karen Chau, under his wing to participate in the DeMatteis Center鈥檚 innovative cardiac research studies. Under Ali鈥檚 mentorship, Chau assisted in an听imaging study听that visualizes coronary artery calcification, the buildup of calcium salts (plaque) in the arteries that deliver blood to the heart.听

Ali鈥檚 discussion, 鈥淚nnovation in Cardiovascular Medicine: The Upside of Failure,鈥� relayed the ups and downs of developing an interventional device designed to safely address calcium plaque in the coronary arteries. The device, once viewed as a 鈥減ipe dream,鈥� has since become commercially available in many countries and is now hailed as a breakthrough. In light of his own experience, he urged attendees to be persistent in pursuing their research and development ideas. 

Throughout the day, NYITCOM faculty and students from the osteopathic medicine, D.O./medical and biological sciences, Ph.D. (D.O./Ph.D.) program also heard from other presenters regarding atherosclerosis, heart failure, and the impact of sleep on the central nervous system, among other topics.

During the afternoon鈥檚 poster presentation session, ample studies by NYITCOM faculty and their student mentees covered a wide array of cardiovascular health issues. Among other subjects, studies examined caffeine鈥檚 impact on heart rhythm, research imaging technology, and vascular calcification with dementia. Featured NYITCOM research included: 

• 鈥淧21 activated Kinase 1 regulates autophagy in cardiomyocytes via P62.鈥�
  Student researchers: Shawn Geffken,听Tint Tha Ra Wun, Anoushka Guha, Pooja Jaiswal, Kinza Ahmed, and Caleb Sooknanan听
  Faculty and staff: Research Technician Tamayo Kobayashi; Assistant Professor听Satoru Kobayashi, Ph.D.; Professor听Qiangrong Liang, M.D., Ph.D.听听听
• 鈥淣ew imaging technology for cardiovascular research at NYIT and regional collaborators.鈥�
  Faculty: Associate Professor听Randy Stout, Ph.D.
• 鈥淕lucolipotoxicity curtails mitophagy in cardiomyocytes.鈥� 
  Student researchers: Younghee Hahn, Hongling Chen, Nidhi Banker, Srinidhi Gadula, Pravin Vathappallil, Brett Silverstein, Jennifer Van, and Ziying Zhang
  Faculty and staff: Tamayo Kobayashi; Senior Research Associate Yuan Huang; Qiangrong Liang, M.D., Ph.D.; and Satoru Kobayashi, Ph.D. 
• 鈥淎lcohol and Caffeine Synergistically Induce Spontaneous Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias鈥擜meliorated with Dantrolene Treatment.鈥�
  Student researchers: Christopher Kim and Nawal Wasif
  Faculty and staff: Associate Professor听Youhua Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.; Research Technician Ying Li; Yuan Huang; Satoru Kobayashi, Ph.D.; Senior Research Associate Lars Udo-Bellner, Ph.D.; Randy Stout, Ph.D.;and听Professor听Kaie Ojamaa, Ph.D.听
• 鈥淣anoscale organization of cardiac calcium channels is regulated by triiodothyronine (T3).鈥澨�
  Student researchers: Nicholas Nasta
  Faculty and staff: Research Associate Amanda Charest; Randy Stout, Ph.D.; University Professor and Chair of Biomedical Sciences听Martin Gerdes, Ph.D.; and Kaie Ojamaa, Ph.D.听
• 鈥淢icrovascular calcification varies across brain regions in humans with and without dementia at death.鈥�
  Student researchers:听Kelly A. Borges, Joseph Aabye, Isabella Romano, Isabelle Lombardi, and Mackenzie Sivilli
  Faculty: Associate Professor听Olga V. Savinova, Ph.D.

Since 2011, researchers in NYITCOM鈥檚 Department of Biomedical Sciences have received more than $8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Many of these NIH-funded projects investigate a range of topics in cardiovascular pathophysiology, including听two recently funded projects, which aim to limit heart damage in cancer survivors treated with a potent chemotherapy drug and explore the link between obesity and hypertension.