Douglas W. Losordo, MD

Douglas W. Losordo, MD
Director, Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute
Director, Program in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine
Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research
Professor of Medicine

Douglas W. Losordo received both a BS degree and an MD degree from the University of Vermont at Burlington. He completed fellowships in molecular biology, interventional cardiology, and cardiology at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Losordo joined the faculty at Tufts University School of Medicine in 1983 and was appointed professor of medicine in 2004. In 2001 he became chief of Cardiovascular Research at St. Elizabeth’s and in 2003 was appointed as acting chief of cardiology. He joined Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine in late 2006 as the director of the Institute.

His committee memberships include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ad Hoc Study Section in Molecular Medicine and Atherosclerosis, NIH Special Emphasis Panel in Tissue Engineering and the Atherogenic Microenvironment, and the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Special Emphasis Panel. From 2006–07 he served as chair of the American Society of Gene Therapy's Cardiovascular Gene Therapy Committee. Dr. Losordo is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He has served on the editorial boards of Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Radiation Medicine Including Molecular Interventions, Circulation Research, Stem Cells, and Vascular Medicine. He is currently associate editor for Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine and Circulation Research.

His research interests focus on angiogenesis/vasculogenesis; progenitor/adult stem cells; tissue repair/regeneration; vascular biology; and the effects of estradiol on vascular tissue. Dr. Losordo is the author or co-author of over 100 articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Committed to collaborative research, Dr. Losordo encourages and supports close communication among Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute’s faculty members, both within the Institute and with external researchers. Dr. Losordo maintains a robust laboratory research program involving a variety of projects focused on regenerative medicine.

To see a recent interview with Dr. Losordo, please follow the link to CardioTube.

Selected Recent Publications

Tongers, J.; Roncalli, J.G.; Losordo, D.W. Therapeutic angiogenesis for critical limb ischemia: microvascular therapies coming of age. Circulation 2008, 118(1), 9-16.

Roncalli, J.G.; Tongers, J.; Renault, M.A.; Losordo, D.W. Endothelial progenitor cells in regenerative medicine and cancer: a decade of research. Trends Biotechnol. 2008, 26(5), 276-283.

Renault, M.A.; Losordo, D.W. Therapeutic myocardial angiogenesis. Microvasc. Res. 2007, 74(2-3), 159-171.

Rajasingh, J.; Bord, E.; Hamada, H.; Lambers, E.; Qin, G.; Losordo, D.W.; Kishore, R. STAT3-dependent mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes: analysis of molecular signaling and therapeutic efficacy of cardiomyocyte precommitted mES transplantation in a mouse model of myocardial infarction. Circ. Res. 2007, 101(9), 910-918.

Losordo, D.W.; Schatz, R.A.; White, C.J.; Udelson, J.E.; Veereshwarayya, V.; Durgin, M.; Poh, K.K.; Weinstein, R.; Kearney, M.; Chaudhry, M.; Burg, A.; Eaton, L.; Heyd, L.; Thorne, T.; Shturman, L.; Hoffmeister, P.; Story, K.; Zak, V.; Dowling, D.; Traverse, J.H.; Olson, R.E.; Flanagan, J.; Sodano, D.; Murayama, T.; Kawamoto, A.; Kusano, K.F.; Wollins, J.; Welt, F.; Shah, P.; Soukas, P.; Asahara, T.; Henry, T.D. Intramyocardial transplantation of autologous CD34+ stem cells for intractable angina: a phase I/IIa double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Circulation 2007, 115(25), 3165-3172.

Quraishi, A.; Losordo, D.W. Ischemic tissue repair by autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells: scientific basis and preclinical data. Handb. Exp. Pharmacol. 2007, 180, 167-179.

Goukassian, D.A.; Qin, G.; Dolan, C.; Murayama, T.; Silver, M.; Curry, C.; Eaton, E.; Luedemann, C.; Ma, H.; Asahara, T.; Zak, V.; Mehta, S.; Burg, A.; Thorne, T.; Kishore, R.; Losordo, D.W. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor p75 is required in ischemia-induced neovascularization. Circulation 2007, 115(6), 752-762.

Kirchmair, R.; Tietz, A.B.; Panagiotou, E.; Walter, D.H.; Silver, M.; Yoon, Y.S.; Schratzberger, P.; Weber, A.; Kusano, K.; Weinberg, D.H.; Ropper, A.H.; Isner, J.M.; Losordo, D.W. Therapeutic angiogenesis inhibits or rescues chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: taxol- and thalidomide-induced injury of vasa nervorum is ameliorated by VEGF. Mol. Ther. 2007, 15(1), 69-75.

Hamada, H.; Kim, M.K.; Iwakura, A.; Ii, M.; Thorne, T.; Qin, G.; Asai. J.; Tsutsumi, Y.; Sekiguchi, H.; Silver, M.; Wecker, A.; Bord, E.; Zhu, Y.; Kishore, R.; Losordo, D.W. Estrogen receptors alpha and beta mediate contribution of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells to functional recovery after myocardial infarction. Circulation 2006, 114(21), 2261-2270.

Kawamoto, A.; Iwasaki, H.; Kusano, K.; Murayama, T.; Oyamada, A.; Silver, M.; Hulbert, C.; Gavin, M.; Hanley, A.; Ma, H.; Kearney, M.; Zak, V.; Asahara, T.; Losordo, D.W. CD34-positive cells exhibit increased potency and safety for therapeutic neovascularization after myocardial infarction compared with total mononuclear cells. Circulation 2006, 114(20), 2163-2169.

Qin, G.; Kishore, R.; Dolan, C.M.; Silver, M.; Wecker, A.; Luedemann, C.N.; Thorne, T.; Hanley, A.; Curry, C.; Heyd, L.; Dinesh, D.; Kearney, M.; Martelli, F.; Murayama, T.; Goukassian, D.A.; Zhu, Y.; Losordo, D.W. Cell cycle regulator E2F1 modulates angiogenesis via p53-dependent transcriptional control of VEGF. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006, 103(29), 11015-11020.

Asai, J.; Takenaka, H.; Kusano, K.F.; Ii, M.; Luedemann, C.; Curry, C.; Eaton, E.; Iwakura, A.; Tsutsumi, Y.; Hamada, H.; Kishimoto, S.; Thorne, T.; Kishore, R.; Losordo, D.W. Topical sonic hedgehog gene therapy accelerates wound healing in diabetes by enhancing endothelial progenitor cell-mediated microvascular remodeling. Circulation 2006, 113(20), 2413-2424.

Iwakura, A.; Shastry, S.; Luedemann, C.; Hamada, H.; Kawamoto, A.; Kishore, R.; Zhu, Y.; Qin, G.; Silver, M.; Thorne, T.; Eaton, L.; Masuda, H.; Asahara, T.; Losordo, D.W. Estradiol enhances recovery after myocardial infarction by augmenting incorporation of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells into sites of ischemia-induced neovascularization via endothelial nitric oxide synthase-mediated activation of matrix metalloproteinase-9. Circulation 2006, 113(12), 1605-1614.