Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the U.S. Loss of estrogen and the associated metabolic changes in menopause dramatically increase cardiovascular risk in women. The Women’s Heart Lab is interested in unraveling the molecular mechanisms that govern this transition and determine therapeutic strategies to preserve cardiac and metabolic health after menopause.

Currently, much of the focus is on mechanisms that regulate diastolic function since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is commonly seen in menopausal elderly women. HFpEF is also prevalent in patients afflicted with insulin resistance and diabetes, conditions that are known to override the female advantage against heart disease even before menopause. The lab uncovered a sex hormone-driven, dose-dependent mitochondrial dysfunction mechanism that determines development of diastolic versus systolic dysfunction in preclinical models. In collaboration with cardiologists and endocrinologists at Houston Methodist, the lab also investigates progression of cardiac metabolic changes in clinical studies.