Lisa de las Fuentes, MD, MS

Related Links

• Physician Profile
• Research Profile

Education

• BA Human Biology: Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1991)
• MD Medicine: University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX (1996)
• Medical Intern: Parkland Memorial Hospital/Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX (1997)
• Medical Resident: Parkland Memorial Hospital/Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX (1999)
• Fellowship, Cardiology: Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (2003)
• Fellowship, Nuclear Cardiology: Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (2003)
• Genetic Epidemiology Master of Science Program, Division of Biostatistics: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (2008)

Recognition

• NIH Loan Repayment Program, Competitive Scholarship, 2006
• NIH Loan Repayment Program, Competitive Scholarship, 2005
• Burton E. Sobel Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research, 2003
• AstraZeneca Young Investigators’ Forum, Clinical Fellow Category, 3rd Place, 2003
• NIH Loan Repayment Program, Competitive Scholarship, 2003
• American Heart Association / Wyeth-Ayerst Women in Cardiology Travel Grant, 2001
• Richard Mays Smith Award in Internal Medicine, 1996

Clinical Interests

In-patient care and testing only. Heart disease, heart conditions, hypertension, dilated cardiomyopathy, cardiac hypertrophy, genetics in cardiovascular disease, nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, cardiac metabolism, cardiac energetics, cardiac aging, coronary artery disease, ventricular infarction.

Research Interests

My research is focused on two different areas.  The first is to  evaluating the role played by genetic variants in myocardial metabolism and inflammatory genes in modifying cardiovascular diseases, including hypertensive heart disease and heart failure. Although traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity, have been known to play important roles in affecting heart and blood vessel function, emerging research suggests that our individual genetic make-up may interact with these environmental factors in modifying these diseases. In particular, genetic variants in myocardial metabolism and inflammation genes have been implicated. The long-term goals of this clinical and translational research project are to identify new targets for the prevention or amelioration of common forms of heart failure.

The second area of research is focused on evaluating cardiovascular disease and health in late middle-age African Americans. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the U.S. Nationally, African Americans have higher morbidity-mortality rates from CAD than whites, and particularly so in Missouri and in the city of St. Louis. Depression is also common and has multiple adverse associations with CAD. Despite the well-known CAD-depression adverse associations, the precise genetic factors and molecular mechanisms mediating them remain largely unknown. The overarching hypothesis of this project is that depression contributes to the development and sequelae of CAD through common gene-gene (GXG) and/or gene-environment (GXE) interactions.