Program Directors

Arnold Schwartz, MD, PhD, D. Sci., FACC, FAHA

Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Institute of Molecular Pharmacology and BiophysicsArnold Schwartz, PhD, received his doctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, under the guidance of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Robert F. Furchgott, PhD. He then moved to the Baylor College of Medicine, where he became director of research of the DeBakey Heart Center and chair of the Department of Cell Biophysics.

Dr. Schwartz was chairman of pharmacology and cell biophysics for 16 years at the University of Cincinnati before stepping down to run the current T32 award program. His research is in the molecular regulation of calcium in the heart and has evolved from a biochemical basis to the present molecular aspects with an emphasis on transport and ion channel systems regulating calcium.

Currently, Dr. Schwartz is continuing to examine mechanisms of hypertrophy and heart failure employing a variety of molecular, biochemical, physiological, pharmacological and transgenic animal approaches.

Evangelia Kranias, PhD

Hanna Professor of Cardiology, Director of Cardiovascular Biology and Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, Distinguished University Professor at the University of Cincinnati

Evangelia Kranias, PhD, has scientific training that spans a wide range of disciplines, including molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology. She has been associated with this training program since 1978. She has been distinguished by a National Institutes of Health Research Career Development Award and a MERIT award.

Dr. Kranias has over 30 years of experience in cardiovascular research and training, has published over 220 original articles and is a highly sought out speaker at national and international conferences. Her research has been internationally recognized in the areas of cardiac Ca-cycling with special emphasis in heart failure and arrhythmias.
 
Jeffery Molkentin, PhD
Executive Co-Director, The Heart Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Full investigator Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Jeffery Molkentin, PhD, came to the University of Cincinnati in 1997 after his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Eric Olson, PhD, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Molkentin has quickly risen through the ranks and was promoted to professor in 2006. Dr. Molkentin's laboratory is located at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.  The author of over 270 original articles, many in the very best biomedical journals, Dr. Molkentin is one of our very best training faculty with an extremely active laboratory that operates on direct funds in excess of $2 million each year with 15 trainees. His funding includes support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Molkentin is well known for his research in cardiac signal transduction, transcriptional control mechanisms, cell death mechanisms and calcium handling.