This proposal details a 5-year training program for career development and advancement in academic cardiovascular medicine for Dr. Michael A. Burke, M.D., the principle investigator. Dr. Burke is a physician- scientist at Emory University (EU) School of Medicine. He completed clinical and research training in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases at Northwestern University through the ABIM research pathway. He then completed subspecialty fellowship training in Advanced Heart Failure (HF) and Transplant Cardiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). Finally, he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the lab of Drs. Christine E. (study co-mentor) and Jonathan G. Seidman in 2015. Dr. Burke has recently established his own laboratory at EU where he is embarking on a research and career development program under the combined mentorship of Drs. Ahsan Husain (EU) and Christine Seidman (BWH). Dr. Husain is a professor of medicine and expert in cardiomyocyte biology and Dr. Seidman is a physician-scientist and cardiovascular geneticist; both have an extensive track record of training future leaders in academic cardiology. Dr. Burke's research interest focuses on characterizing the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression with progression of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) to HF. His long-term career goals are to translate this research into clinical advances for patients with HF. He has published important research demonstrating temporal changes in cardiac transcription using a genetic model of DCM that suggests a key role for early activation of pro-fibrotic signaling. He has recently generated new evidence suggesting that epigenetic reader proteins are a key nodal point for pathologic gene transcription in the progression of DCM. The objectives of this research proposal are (1) to characterize the roles of specific TGF? isoforms and the bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) family of epigenetic reader proteins in DCM, (2) to establish a possible mechanistic link between TGF? signaling and BETs, and (3) to define the mechanism of BET recruitment to target genes. Understanding these mechanisms will provide important fundamental insight into the biology of HF and could unlock potential therapeutic targets for this common and morbid disease. This research will teach Dr. Burke the use of advanced molecular techniques including viral vector delivery in animals, chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing (ChIP-seq) and single-cell RNA-seq. Dr. Burke's career development plan also includes educational resources to further his scientific knowledge. Drs. Husain, Seidman and Burke have formulated a clear timeline for career development, including publication of research, presentations at national meetings and development of a plan for his subsequent transition to independent investigator. The support provided by EU and this comprehensive career development program will optimally position Dr. Burke to compete for independent grant funding by the end of the program period.
Heart failure is a common and fatal disease afflicting nearly 6 million individuals in the United States and having a 5-year survival of only 50%, which is worse than all but 2 of the 15 most common forms of cancer in this country. Drug development for heart failure has been stagnant over the last 16 years in large part due to an incomplete understanding of the molecular pathways that bring about this deadly disease. The research proposed in this application aims to narrow this knowledge gap by studying the mechanisms regulating the expression of genes that cause the heart to fail, including the testing of a new potential therapeutic modality that targets the epigenome in a preclinical model of heart failure.
