Founded in 1942 by surgeon Alfred Blalock and surgical technician Vivien Thomas, the Cardiac Su...rgery Research Lab at The Johns Hopkins Hospital serves not only to spearhead discovery and innovation in cardiothoracic surgery, but also to train future leaders in the field. Active areas of investigation include the development of novel, nanoparticle-based therapeutics to mitigate acute lung injury, avoid neurological injury during cardiac surgery, and improve organ preservation during heart and lung transplantation. The lab is also active in a variety of clinical research projects aimed at improving outcomes for our patients.

Equally important, the lab plays a critical role in training residents for impactful careers in academic cardiothoracic surgery. Medical students, residents, and fellows receive hands-on simulation experiences to hone surgical skills outside of the operating room. The lab also serves as a training ground to develop research and investigation skills as trainees learn methods of advanced statistical analysis and academic writing. Special programs for undergraduates and medical students help develop their passion for cardiac surgery and surgical research, giving unique opportunities to young talent. view more

Dr. Parikh's research focuses on the translation and validation of novel biomarkers for the dia...gnosis and prognosis of acute kidney injury. Progress in kidney diseases has been hamstrung by significant heterogeneity within the current disease definitions, which are largely based on serum creatinine. Dr. Parikh's research has addressed this critical challenge by developing biomarkers of renal tubular injury, repair, and inflammation to dissect this heterogeneity. He has assembled multicenter longitudinal prospective cohorts for translational research studies across several clinical settings of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease for the efficient translation of novel biomarkers.



His research is dedicated to the process of applying discoveries generated in the laboratory and in preclinical experiments, the development of clinical studies, and the design of clinical trials. Dr. Parikh's studies have refined the clinical definition in perioperative acute kidney injury and hepatorenal syndrome, developed strategies to reduce kidney discard in deceased donor transplantation, and advanced regulatory approvals of kidney injury biomarkers. He has also developed biomarkers to identify rapid progressors of early diabetic kidney disease before derangements in serum creatinine. Dr. Parikh's research goal is to translate our understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms into clinical practice and improve the outcomes in patients with kidney disease.



Dr. Parikh has also been the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2017 Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Nephrology.
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Work in the Christian Merlo Lab includes studies on pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, outc...omes in lung transplantation and treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF), and HIV-related pulmonary disease. We have studied methods of diagnosing and managing pulmonary arteriovenous malformations as well as the outcomes of adult CF patients who are infected with multiple antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Our recent research has also explored recipient and donor variables in the success or failure of lung transplants, and ways in which national healthcare delivery systems impact lung transplant outcomes for CF patients. view more

Dr. Christine Durand, assistant professor of medicine and oncology and member of the Johns Hopk...ins Kimmel Cancer Center, is involved in clinical and translational research focused on individuals infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus who require cancer and transplant therapies. Her current research efforts include looking at outcomes of hepatitis C treatment after solid organ transplant, the potential use of organs from HIV-infected donors for HIV-infected solid organ transplant candidates, and HIV cure strategies including bone marrow transplantation.

Dr. Durand is supported by multiple grants:

• R01 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to study HIV-to-HIV organ transplantation in the US.
• K23 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study antiretroviral therapy during bone marrow transplant in HIV-1 infection.
• U01 from the NIAID to study HIV-to-HIV deceased donor kidney transplantation.
U01 from the NIAID to study HIV-to-HIV deceased donor liver transplantation. view more

The main focus of Dr. Gilotra's research is understanding the pathophysiology and outcomes in i...nflammatory cardiomyopathies including myocarditis and sarcoidosis, as well as improvement of heart failure patient care through noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring and studying novel strategies to reduce heart failure hospitalizations. Additional investigations involve clinical research in advanced heart failure therapies including heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Gilotra is the site Principal Investigator for the NIH/NHLBI funded Heart Failure Network trials. view more

Research in the Jonathan Orens Lab examines topics such as clinical outcomes of lung transplant...ation, chronic allograft rejection and ischemic reperfusion injury, also known as primary graft dysfunction. view more

Dr. Alachkar's research focuses on recurrent glomerular diseases post kidney transplantation. I...n particular, she has been studying recurrent FSGS post kidney transplant in several, partially NIH funded, prospective research projects that focuses on circulating factors associate with recurrent FSGS and new therapies of recurrent FSGS; in addition to the outcome of the disease. Also, Dr. Alachkar is the Chair of Banff recurrent GN working group that focus on the pathological changes of recurrent GN.


Dr. Alachkar's other research focus is incompatible living and diseases donor transplant. She has several ongoing research studies that focus on AMR and the outcome of patients with positive donor specific antibodies. view more

The Nae-Yuh Wang Lab concentrates on a wide range of multicenter studies and randomized control...led trials. Recent studies have focused on pediatric cochlear implantation and longitudinal data analysis. One recent study found that partnering with primary care providers to deliver weight loss programs may promote greater participant satisfaction and weight loss. Another active study is assessing the effectiveness of promising interventions to reduce race disparities in live donor kidney transplantation. view more

The Richard J. Jones Lab studies normal and cancerous stem cells in order to make clinical impr...ovements in areas such as blood and marrow transplantation (BMT). We discovered one of the most common stem-cell markers, Aldefluor, which identifies cells based on their expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1), and have used this marker to detect and characterize normal stem cells and cancer stem cells from many hematologic malignancies. We also developed post-transplant cyclophosphamide and effective related haploidentical BMT. view more

The Barouch Lab is focused on defining the peripheral cardiovascular effects of the adipocytoki...ne leptin, which is a key to the understanding of obesity-related cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, many of the hormonal abnormalities seen in obesity are mimicked in heart failure. The research program will enhance the understanding of metabolic signaling in the heart, including the effects of leptin, exercise, sex hormones, and downstream signaling pathways on metabolism and cardiovascular function.

The lab also is working to determine the precise role of the “metabolic” beta-3 adrenergic receptor (ß3AR) in the heart and define the extent of its protective effect in obesity and in heart failure, including its role in maintaining nitric oxide synthase (NOS) coupling. Ultimately, this work will enable the exploration of a possible therapeutic role of ß3AR agonists and re-coupling of NOS in preventing adverse ventricular remodeling in obesity and in heart failure.

Lili Barouch, MD, is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology and a member of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation group at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. view more

The Woreta Lab does clinical and translational research on Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Liver Tran...splantation Outcomes; Chronic Viral Hepatitis.
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The Victor Chen Lab performs clinical research on alcohol use disorder, alcohol-associated live...r disease, and transplantation. view more

The Singh lab does clinical and translational research on pancreatic islet isolation and transp...lantation as well as acute and chronic pancreatitis.

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