Project Area

Investigating Mechanisms of Immunotherapy-Induced (ICI) Myocarditis

Myocarditis, a serious inflammatory reaction in the heart causing cardiac death, can occur as a result of immunotherapy used to treat cancer. Unfortunately, there are currently no effective medical therapies for this type of myocarditis. We aim to test and validate novel drug targets using mouse models, iPSC-induced cardiomyocytes, and tissue samples collected from patients with this disease, thus helping to ensure cardiovascular safety for cancer patients.

Funding Sources: NHLBI R01, R03, AHA Transformational Project Award

We explore novel small molecule compounds and investigating the effects of CXCR3 blockade in heart vs tumor. Check out our recent publication in Circulation Research for more details on published work in this area.

Link to article

We unravel mysteries of risk factors and predisposition in ICI myocarditis using molecular and cellular tools.

We explore role of stromal cells like fibroblasts in ICI myocarditis to understand how acute and chronic cardiac inflammation are sustained.

Link to article