My laboratory is one of only a few working on the regulation of new capillary growth that develops in diseased arteries.  Plaque neovascularization is now recognized to promote plaque growth and rupture or intraplaque hemorrhage that lead to strokes or heart attacks.

Thus, our major research goals are:

1. To elucidate selective VEGF isoforms and receptors that stimulate pathologic plaque angiogenesis without interfering with protective VEGF functions in normal arteries.
2. To characterize alterations in plaque neovascularization by diabetes and to validate the prognostic significance of angiogenesis-related biomarkers for monitoring early vascular and renal complications in diabetes.
3. To investigate a novel function of collagen XVIII/endostatin that regulates lipoprotein metabolism and adiposity in genetic models with deficient or trisomy collagen XVIII.
4. To elucidate the mechanism for impaired endothelial progenitor development in a VEGF mutant mouse strain.

My research interests are focused in vascular biology and angiogenesis with an interest in the regulation of angiogenesis molecules in chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis.