WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

Independent of the cause of heart failure once patients develop heart failure, the majority of individuals will experience disease progression and eventually progress to end-stage disease. However, a small number of patients will experience disease remission and may spontaneously recover cardiac function. To define the mechanisms that dictate whether a patient will experience disease progression or recover from heart failure, we have focused on understanding how the innate immune system influences the heart's response to acute and chronic tissue injury. Through these studies we have discovered that the heart contains a diverse and heterogeneous complement of immune cells derived from divergent embryonic origins with unique reparative and inflammatory functions. Current projects in the laboratory are focused on understanding the exact origins of these cells in the mouse and human heart, identifying molecular determinants of cell fate, and deciphering mechanisms by which each cell type..

Also known as: Lavine Lab

Primary location: St. Louis United States