Director, Center for Translational Cardiovascular Research | Vice Dean, Research | Member of the Graduate Faculty | Professor, BIO5 Institute | Professor
Christopher Glembotski, PhD, is a renowned researcher in cardiovascular disease with a remarkable background and a wide-range of accomplishments not only as a scientist, but as an educator and leader. He is the inaugural director of the Translational Cardiovascular Research Center; the associate dean for Research; and a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.Prior to joining the college, Dr. Glembotski served as the director of the San Diego State University (SDSU) Heart Institute and was a distinguished professor of biology. Dr. Glembotski has an extensive research background and garnered more than $35 million in grants during his time at SDSU. Since he started his own lab in 1983, he has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health.Dr. Glembotski earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, CA, and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. He continued his studies at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver as a postdoctoral fellow in molecular physiology and moved to his first faculty position as professor of pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before relocating to San Diego to become director of the SDSU Heart Institute.
Principal Investigator Chris Glembotski, from COM Phx Internal Medicine, has been awarded a grant from the DPT of Health & Human Services for his research project on 'Roles for Endoplasmic Reticulum Associated Degradation (ERAD) in Myocardial Proteostasis'. This project explores the importance of ERAD, a protein degradation process, in protecting the heart from damage during ischemia/reperfusion. Key aspects of the research include:
- Investigating the role of the antioxidant protein Vimp in ERAD and its effects on cardiac structure and function during ischemia/reperfusion.
- Examining the impact of Vimp knockdown on infarct size, remodeling, and molecular sensors of cardiac pathology.
- Dissecting the roles of Vimp's selenoprotein and ERAD-enabling domains in ERAD function using genetically engineered mice.
- Investigating how ERAD affects endogenous proteins in the heart using three complementary approaches.