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vasan@uthscsa.edu

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Research

Research profile

Research Areas

Cardiovascular

Vasan Ramachandran, MD, FACC, FAHA

Dean UT School of Public Health San Antonio

Frank Harrison, MD, PhD Distinguished Chair in Public Health

Professor

I am the Founding Dean of the UT School of Public Health San Antonio. Previously, I served as the Chief in the Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine and as Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health (BUSPH). I also served as the Principal Investigator of the Framingham Heart Study (FHS, the oldest running epidemiology study in the US) between 2014 to 2022. I am the Principal Investigator of the Risk Underlying the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Study (one of the youngest cohort studies in the US) that studies rural populations in southern Appalachia and the Missisippi Delta. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), RURAL collaborates with sixteen institutions across the US led by a cross-functional and transdisciplinary team of investigators.

I am a cardiologist with subspecialty training in echocardiography and cardiovascular epidemiology and have a long-standing commitment to clinical epidemiological research. My personal and professional experiences have sensitized me to the necessity of active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with the diversity of fellow humans and developing a deeper understanding of their lived experiences within institutions, systems, and society. My research draws direct attention to the importance of addressing health disparities and working toward health equity, particularly the critical need to evaluate and address social determinants of health as upstream mediators of race-related disparities in CVD.  

My research is focused on: A) Public health issues in historically marginalized populations with the focus on rural health. B)The epidemiology and novel risk markers of heart failure (HF), with a focus on HFpEF, including evaluating the role of LV and vascular remodeling and ventricular-vascular coupling; C) Population-based echocardiography and arterial stiffness, including identifying biological, environmental, and genetic determinants, normative standards and prognostic implications; D) Population- based exercise testing, with a current focus on cardiopulmonary exercise testing with metabolite profiling; E) Detailed assessment of novel biomarkers of CVD risk, risk prediction, subclinical atherosclerosis and genomics of CVD traits, including metabolomics, proteomics, and the microbiome. 

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 1989 - D.M. - Cardiology - All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
    • 1986 - M.D. - Internal Medicine - All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
    • 1982 - M.B.B.S. - Medicine - All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Training

    • 1993 - Program in Clinical Effectiveness - Harvard School of Public Health

    Highlights

    Honors: 

    • 2012, Outstanding Mentoring Award, Council on Epidemiology & Prevention, American Heart Association
    • 2014, Population Science Award, the American Heart Association 
    • 2021, Association of American Physicians
    • 2021, Louis & Artur Lucian Award for Research in Circulatory Disease, McGill University
    • 2021, Distinguished Scientist Award, the American Heart Association
    • 2022, Faculty Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention Award, UT System

    Appointments

    • 2022 - Founding Dean and Professor - UT School of Public Health San Antonio
    • 2014 - Principal Investigator, Framingham Heart Study
    • 2013 - Professor of Epidemiology - Boston University School of Public Health
    • 2009 - Chief, Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Section, Department of Medicine - Boston University School of Medicine
    • 2006 - Professor of Medicine - Boston University School of Medicine
    • 1998 - Associate Professor of Medicine - Boston University School of Medicine
    • 1996 - Associate Professor of Medicine - Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of MedicalSciences, Trivandrum, India
    • 1993 - Clinical Research Fellow, Cardiology (Cardiovascular Epidemiology) - Boston University School of Medicine
    • 1992 - Senior Clinical Fellow, Cardiology - Washington Hospital Center, Washington D.C
    • 1991 - Assistant Professor, Cardiology - All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

  • Research & Grants

    My research experience spans four domains. 1) Genomic and non-genomic biomarkers of cardiometabolic and CVD risk. I lead studies relating multiple biomarkers to cardiometabolic and vascular risk, risk modeling and prediction. 2). Hypertension and heart failure research, describing key risk factors, developing a risk score, and describing rates of progression and lifetime risk of elevated blood pressure. 3). Echocardiography, vascular and exercise laboratories, more recently introducing perturbation epidemiology to FHS.

    Research profile

    Grants

    • Epidemiology of blood pressure responses to perturbations: Correlates and prognosis for vascular risk, end-organ damage, cognitive aging and preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (R01AG071586). Role: PI 
    • Whole-genome sequencing analysis of coronary atherosclerosis and related traits (R01HL146860). Role: Sub-PI
    • RURAL: Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal Cohort Study (U01HL146382). Role: Contact PI
    • Genetic Architecture of Cardiac Structure and Function and Its Implication in Heart Failure (R01HL160793). Role: MPI
    • Ventricular-vascular coupling in the elderly: lifecourse determinants, trajectories and prognostic significance (R01HL142983). Role: PI
    • Plasma Proteome and Risk of Alzheimer Dementia and Related Endophenotypes in the Framingham Study (RF1AG063507). Roe: Contact PI
    • Cardiometabolic Multidimensional Assessment of Brain Health as A Marker of Dementia Risk and Resilience in the Framingham Study (R01AG066524). Role: MPI
    • Plasma proteomics in CHS and population biology (R01HL144483). Role: Sub-PI
    • Mediators of Systemic Inflammation and Heart Failure Risk in the Community (R01HL143227). Role: Sub-PI

  • Service

    Service to the Profession

    Fellowships, Memberships, Offices, Professional Societies:

    • 1996-present, Fellow, American College of Cardiology
    • 1996-2008, Member, American Society of Echocardiography
    • 1999-present, Member, American Heart Association - Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, Council on Genomics & Precision Medicine
    • 2007-present, Fellow, American Heart Association

     

  • Publications

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