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Featured Faculty

Sami Noujaim, PhD

Sami Noujaim, PhD

Assistant Professor, College of Medicine Internal Medicine
  • We focus on the mechanistic understanding of cardiac normal and abnormal electrical impulse propagation. We strive to further explore, from the molecular, to the whole organ level, the determinants of cardiac excitability and arrhythmias. Along with our collaborators, our scientific investigations employ multidisciplinary approaches that include molecular and cellular biology, cellular and whole organ electrophysiology, and structural biology of ion channels, in order to investigate the mechanisms and therapeutics of cardiac pathoelectrophysiology. Our areas of scientific interest include:
  • 1- The mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis in pathological conditions associated with intracellular Ca overload.
  • 2- The role of the intrinsic cardiac nervous system in the generation of abnormal heart rhythm.
  • 3- The role of the inward rectifier potassium channels in atrial and ventricular tachyarrhythmias.
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Mack Wu, MD

Mack Wu, MD

Professor, College of Medicine Molecular Medicine

Congratulations to Mr. John Lockhart!

We would like to congratulate Mr. John Lockhart, who has been awarded with the 2019 Keystone Symposia Scholarship and has also been invited to give a short talk about his submitted abstract entitled, “Effective Delivery of Therapeutic mRNA using Peptide-Based Nanoparticles.” This work was done in collaboration with the laboratories of Dr. Hua Pan and Dr. Samuel Wickline using a novel-based peptide nanoparticle system for oligonucleotide delivery. Mr. Lockhart is a Ph.D. candidate being mentored, by Dr. Hana Totary-Jain, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology. The Keystone Symposia will take place on April 7 – 10, 2019 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We are very proud of Mr. Lockhart’s accomplishments - Congratulations!
Dr. Bibhu Mohanty - Tips on Heart Health
Surface TAS2R14-WT expression with DPD treatment in HEK293T cells

Articles

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy in African Americans
Plot of the odds of developing idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (a form of heart failure) from various genetic variations on chromosome 2. A variation in a calcium channel subunit (CACNB4) showed the greatest risk for developing the disease. The population is African-American, and the results are from a recent study published from the Heart Institute.

Modulation of LIN28B/Let-7 Signaling by Propranolol Contributes to Infantile Hemangioma Involution
Infantile hemangiomas (IHs) are the most common benign vascular neoplasms of infancy, characterized by a rapid growth phase followed by a spontaneous involution, or triggered by propranolol treatment by poorly understood mechanisms. LIN28/let-7 axis plays a central role in the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and tumorigenesis. However, the role of LIN28B/let-7 signaling in IH pathogenesis has not yet been elucidated.

USF Health Institute News

Hua Pan’s presentation wins a top prize at European Society of Cardiology Congress
9/18/2019
USF Health’s Hua Pan, PhD, MBA, won first place for her moderated poster presentation titled “Anti-thrombin nanoparticles limit ischemia-reperfusion injury and no-reflow in myocardial infarction” on Sept. 2 at the annual European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris. The Congress draws some 35,00 … [read more]
USF Health research institutes rank in State University System’s Top 10
9/13/2019
  Two USF Health Morsani College of Medicine research-focused institutes rank among the Top 10 Institutes and Centers within Florida’s State University System (SUS).  The ranking was derived from the SUS 2018 survey of its 536 university institutes and centers engaged in scientific research, e … [read more]
Study finds cellular processes controlling the formation of lymphatic valves
8/27/2019
Targeting VE- cadherin signaling pathways holds promise for treating lymphedema’s debilitative swelling, USF-led preclinical research suggests Green immunostained image of a lymphatic vessel with one valve in the center and another in the top left corner. To the upper right of the lymph vessel is a … [read more]
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