Ivor Benjamin Lab
CVC In the News
The State of Heart Research
Milwaukee's NPR radio program Lake Effect speaks with Ivor Benjamin, MD, Director of the MCW Cardiovascular Center about the state of cardiovascular research and the national push to train the general population in CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
Medical College of Wisconsin cardiologist named president of American Heart Association board
BizTimes, July 24, 2018
Ivor Benjamin, MD, FAHA, FACC
Director, Cardiovascular Center
Professor, Medicine, Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, and Surgery
Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin
ibenjamin@mcw.edu
Dr. Ivor Benjamin is the Director of the Cardiovascular Center, co-director of the NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Sciences and co-leader of the CVC’s Signature Program in Precision Cardiovascular Medicine. He is a Professor of Medicine, Physiology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy, and Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Benjamin earned his MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, and received fellowship training in clinical cardiology, molecular cardiology, and molecular biology at Michael Reese Hospital (University of Chicago), Duke University Medical Center, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. A certified specialist and consultant in internal medicine and cardiology, his clinical interests are general cardiology, inheritable heart failure, and myocardial infarction. His research focuses on genes encoding heat shock proteins and oxido-reductive stress response pathways of direct relevance to genetic forms of heart disease, cardiotoxicological science and precision medicine.
An Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, Dr. Benjamin’s longstanding and distinguished career as a physician scientist has taken him across the country, including 10 years at the University of Utah School of Medicine where he was named the Division Chief of Cardiology and the Christi T. Smith Endowed Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine. He is the recipient of countless honors including the Award of Merit from the American Heart Association, the Daniel Savage Memorial Service Award from the Association of Black Cardiologists, and the prestigious NIH Director's Pioneer Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Cecil Essential of Medicine 9th Edition and has authored over 130 books, book chapters and scientific papers. Dr. Benjamin is a founding member of the Journal of the American Heart Association, and he currently serves on the editorial boards of Circulation and Circulation Research.
Dr. Benjamin has been a champion by providing leadership to broaden the global reach of biomedical research in efforts to reduce death and disability from cardiovascular diseases, stroke and other brain disorders. He is a primary investigator for other major cardiovascular research projects including a $4 million award funded by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment. Recently, he completed his term as president of the Association of University Cardiologists and is now serving a year-long tenure as the American Heart Association’s 82nd president.
Qiang Dai, PhD
Research Associate II
qdai@mcw.edu
Our laboratory has longstanding interests in the role that stress response (HSF/HSP) pathways play in the development, progression, and, ultimately, the prevention of acquired and inheritable cardiac diseases. My studies of genetically engineered mouse models and somatic cell cultures are exploring the mechanisms underlying the effects of genetic, metabolic (e.g., redox), and other perturbations in ischemic cardioprotection and heart failure.
Shuping Lai, PhD
Research Associate II
slai@mcw.edu
My research project aims on modeling cardiac diseases in a culture dish by utilizing patient specimens. We are creating cardiomyocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells, differentiate them into cardiomyocytes and use them as a means to mimic the disease in a dish. My major interests are drug-screenings and biochemical assays to exhibit different susceptibilities of cardiac cells to cardiac drugs, to predict adverse drug responses more accurately and to find best suitable drugs for cardiac diseases.
Kurt Kolander
Postdoctoral Fellow
kkolande@mcw.edu
My current project is focused on studying atrial fibrillation. Using both transgenic rats, and human induced pluripotent stem cells, my goal is to develop systems to elucidate the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation and to test the efficacy of treatments for this disorder. This work will hopefully contribute to the development of personalized treatments for atrial fibrillation and other heart diseases.
Elizabeth Schibly
Recent Publications
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(Gabai VL, Meng L, Kim G, Mills TA, Benjamin IJ, Sherman MY.) Mol Cell Biol. 2017 Oct 15;37(20).
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(Zucker IH, Lindsey ML, Delmar M, De Windt LJ, Des Rosiers C, Diz DI, Hester RL, Jones SP, Kanagy NL, Kitakaze M, Liao R, Lopaschuk GD, Patel KP, Recchia FA, Sadoshima J, Shah AM, Ungvari Z, Benjamin IJ, Blaustein MP, Charkoudian N, Efimov IR, Gutterman D, Kass DA, Liao Y, O'Leary DS, Ripplinger CM, Wolin MS.) Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2017 Aug 01;313(2):H221-H223.
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Genomic Approaches to Hypertension.
(Dodoo SN, Benjamin IJ.) Cardiol Clin. 2017 May;35(2):185-196.
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The growing world of small heat shock proteins: from structure to functions.
(Carra S, Alberti S, Arrigo PA, Benesch JL, Benjamin IJ, Boelens W, Bartelt-Kirbach B, Brundel BJJM, Buchner J, Bukau B, Carver JA, Ecroyd H, Emanuelsson C, Finet S, Golenhofen N, Goloubinoff P, Gusev N, Haslbeck M, Hightower LE, Kampinga HH, Klevit RE, Liberek K, Mchaourab HS, McMenimen KA, Poletti A, Quinlan R, Strelkov SV, Toth ME, Vierling E, Tanguay RM.) Cell Stress Chaperones. 2017 07;22(4):601-611.
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Efficient Precision Genome Editing in iPSCs via Genetic Co-targeting with Selection.
(Mitzelfelt KA, McDermott-Roe C, Grzybowski MN, Marquez M, Kuo CT, Riedel M, Lai S, Choi MJ, Kolander KD, Helbling D, Dimmock DP, Battle MA, Jou CJ, Tristani-Firouzi M, Verbsky JW, Benjamin IJ, Geurts AM.) Stem Cell Reports. 2017 03 14;8(3):491-499.
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Perspectives from NHLBI Global Health Think Tank Meeting for Late Stage (T4) Translation Research.
(Engelgau MM, Peprah E, Sampson UKA, Mishoe H, Benjamin IJ, Douglas PS, Hochman JS, Ridker PM, Brandes N, Checkley W, El-Saharty S, Ezzati M, Hennis A, Jiang L, Krumholz HM, Lamourelle G, Makani J, Narayan KMV, Ohene-Frempong K, Straus SE, Stuckler D, Chambers DA, Belis D, Bennett GC, Boyington JE, Creazzo TL, de Jesus JM, Krishnamurti C, Lowden MR, Punturieri A, Shero ST, Young NS, Zou S, Mensah GA.) Glob Heart. 2017 12;12(4):341-348.
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Heat Shock Factor 1 Is a Substrate for p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases.
(Dayalan Naidu S, Sutherland C, Zhang Y, Risco A, de la Vega L, Caunt CJ, Hastie CJ, Lamont DJ, Torrente L, Chowdhry S, Benjamin IJ, Keyse SM, Cuenda A, Dinkova-Kostova AT.) Mol Cell Biol. 2016 09 15;36(18):2403-17.
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(Mitzelfelt KA, Limphong P, Choi MJ, Kondrat FD, Lai S, Kolander KD, Kwok WM, Dai Q, Grzybowski MN, Zhang H, Taylor GM, Lui Q, Thao MT, Hudson JA, Barresi R, Bushby K, Jungbluth H, Wraige E, Geurts AM, Benesch JL, Riedel M, Christians ES, Minella AC, Benjamin IJ.) J Biol Chem. 2016 07 15;291(29):14939-53.
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HSF1 critically attunes proteotoxic stress sensing by mTORC1 to combat stress and promote growth.
(Su KH, Cao J, Tang Z, Dai S, He Y, Sampson SB, Benjamin IJ, Dai C.) Nat Cell Biol. 2016 05;18(5):527-39.
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(Grose JH, Langston K, Wang X, Squires S, Mustafi SB, Hayes W, Neubert J, Fischer SK, Fasano M, Saunders GM, Dai Q, Christians E, Lewandowski ED, Ping P, Benjamin IJ.) PLoS One. 2015;10(10):e0133994.
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(Hussein RM, Benjamin IJ, Kampinga HH.) PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0126761.
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(Lopez-Izquierdo A, Warren M, Riedel M, Cho S, Lai S, Lux RL, Spitzer KW, Benjamin IJ, Tristani-Firouzi M, Jou CJ.) Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2014 Nov 01;307(9):H1370-7.