Academic Appointments
- Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics

The studies in my laboratory aim to identify the mechanisms that underlie the physiologically important changes in cardiomyocyte adrenergic receptor responsiveness that accompany normal cardiac development, that influence the evolution of heart failure, or that contribute to cardiac injury in the setting of ischemia-reperfusion injury and oxidative stress. Our studies take advantage of a wide range of reductionist molecular and cell biological approaches in both cell culture and in vitro models to study the expression and subcellular localization of adrenergic receptor subtypes, to identify the adrenergic receptor binding partners and effectors that dictate signaling specificity in cardiomyocytes, and to understand the molecular basis for catecholamine-dependent cardiomyocyte remodeling. One area of particular interest has been the stimulus- (in some cases redox-) dependent post-translational modifications on signaling kinases such as protein kinase C and protein kinase D that alter their enzymology. We also have identified post-translational processing (involving an O-glycan-regulated proteolytic cleavage) of the beta1-adrenergic receptor N-terminus as a mechanism that calibrates signaling output to downstream effector responses. In both cases, these studies identify novel molecular determinants that can serve as druggable targets.
Departments and Divisions
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Education and Training
- BS, 1972 Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- MD, 1976 Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Internship: 1977 Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
- Residency: 1979 Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
- Fellowship: 1982 Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
Committees / Societies / Memberships
MEMBERSHIPS IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:
Diplomat, Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine
Diplomat, Endocrinology & Metabolic Diseases, American Board of Internal Medicine
American Federation for Clinical Research
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
American Heart Association, Fellow of the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences
Fellow of the International Society for Heart Research (FISHR)
ADVISORY AND EDITORIAL BOARDS:
Member, Program Project Study Section A, USPHS-NHLBI 1992-1996
Molecular Signaling Study Committee, Basic Science Council, American Heart Association 1995-2000
American Heart Association, Northeast Research Consortium Peer Review Group, Cardiovascular Physiol & Pharm, Molecular Biology of Muscle, and Molecular Signaling. 1998-2002
Ad Hoc Reviewer, Cardiovascular and Renal (CVB) Study Section, USPHS-NHLBI 1999
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research, Medical Student Fellowship Awards Review Panel 1999-2000
Cardiovascular A (CVA) Study Section, Member, USPHS-NHLBI 2000-2004
Chair, NIH Scientific Review Group ZRG1 CVRS-C 02 M, Cardiac Therapies 2010
Program Committee, Basic Science Council, American Heart Association 1994-1997
Abstract Reviewer, American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 1989-2001, 2006-2009, 2011, 2014
Editorial Boards:
Circulation Research 1995-2013
Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology 1998-present
Journal of Molecular & Cellular Cardiology 2000-present
American Journal of Physiology 1999-2015
Circulation 2004-2016
Journal of Biological Chemistry 2006-2011
Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Associate Editor 2008-present
Faculty of 1000, Cardiovascular Physiology 2005-present
Faculty of 1000, Pharmacology & Drug Discovery Advisory Board 2009-present
Columbia University; Department of Medicine, Graduation prizes committee 2002-2004
Molecular Pharmacology Division of ASPET; Secretary-Treasurer 2003-2005
Women in Pharmacology Committee – ASPET 2003-2010
American Heart Association: Chair - Scientific Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Growth, Death and Regeneration in the Myocardium (with Dr. David Kass) August, 2005
New York Academy of Medicine, Chair, Selection Committee for the Glorney-Raisbeck Fellowship in Cardiovascular Diseases 2005-2008
American Heart Association - Chair Northeast 5B Study Group, Basic Cell and Molecular Biology, Molecular Signaling and Cardiovascular Development April, 2005
American Heart Association, National, Research Committee, Strategic Planning Subcommittee 2005-2008
Chair Stem Cell Task Force 2007-2009
International Society for Heart Failure Research, North American Section Council Member 2006-2012
Nominating Committee for ISHR, North American section officers 2009-2011
North American section program/steering committee 2009-2011
Katz Prize Selection Committee, American Heart Association, Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science 2008-2012
Cardiac Contractility, Hypertrophy, and Failure (CCHF), Study Section, member USPHS-NHLBI 2012-2015
Committee on Appointments and Promotions, Columbia University 2007-2012
Dean’s Committee on Faculty Diversity, Columbia University 2012-present
American Heart Association – Basic Cardiovascular Science Council, Leadership Committee 2014-2018
Columbia University Senate 2016-2018
Honors and Awards
Thomas Smith Memorial Lecture, American Heart Associattion, 2019
NIH Grants
A NOVEL MOLECULAR DETERMINANT OF THE CARDIAC BETA1-ADRENERGIC RECEPTOR RESPONSE (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 2018 - Feb 28 2022
DISTRICT PROTEIN KINASE C-DELTA SIGNALING MODES IN CARIOMYOCYTES (Federal Gov)
Nov 15 2014 - Oct 31 2018
DISTRICT PROTEIN KINASE C-DELTA SIGNALING MODES IN CARIOMYOCYTES (Federal Gov)
Nov 15 2014 - Oct 31 2018
PKD ISOFORMS IN HEART (Federal Gov)
Aug 15 2012 - Jul 31 2016
PROTEIN KINASE C-DELTA ACTIONS IN CARDIOMYOCYTES (Federal Gov)
Aug 15 2004 - Apr 30 2015
P66SHC SIGNALING FUNCTIONS IN CARDIOMYOCYTES (Federal Gov)
Apr 15 2010 - Mar 31 2015
B1-/B2-ADRENERGIC RECEPTOR MECHANISMS IN CARDIOMYOCYTES (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2003 - Jun 30 2009