WebmedCentral Editor

Dr. Loren Wold

Principal Investigator
The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital
700 Children's Drive

Brief Biography:

I did my undergraduate training at Boston University, followed by graduate training at the University of North Dakota. I did a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Robert Kloner at the Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles and worked as an Instructor at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. I was then recruited to Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Ohio State University.

Academic positions:

1997-1998 Instructor – Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Mary, Bismarck, ND

1998-2003 Graduate Research Assistant – Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND

2003-2005 Cardiology Research Fellow, The Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

2005-2006 Instructor – Department of Pharmacology, University of New England, Biddeford, ME

2006-present Principal Investigator – Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH

2006-2009 Research Assistant Professor - Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

2009-present Assistant Professor (tenure track) – Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

2007-present Faculty – Integrated Biomedical Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

2008-present Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

2008-present Investigator - The Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, Myocyte Biology Program, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

2009-present Participating Faculty, Medical Scientist Program, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH

Research interests:

Our research is based on how cardiovascular function is affected under different disease states, in particular diabetes. Our laboratory uses isolated myocyte preparations to study the organ at the cellular level, with endpoints including real-time function, intracellular calcium concentration and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling. The use of myocytes allows us to assess the “functional unit” of the heart under disease states and determine how alterations in myocyte function can translate into changes in whole heart function. I have also become interested in how the heart responds to environmental stressors, including particles within the air.

While doing a postdoctoral fellowship in Los Angeles, we performed a study showing that particles from the air, termed ultrafine particulate matter, were able to traverse the endothelial lining of a blood vessel and travel through the bloodstream. This allowed the particles direct access to the heart, with resultant depressions in cardiac function. We also know from the clinic that on days of high air pollution, there is a significant increase in sudden cardiac death, which is exacerbated in patients with pre-existing heart conditions (such as seen in diabetics). Currently, we are interested in the signaling mechanisms involved in this functional change, as well as how particles directly effect isolated cardiomyocytes.

Our lab work is funded by the American Heart Association, National Affiliate (Scientific Development Grant) and the National Institutes of Health examining how exposure to particulate matter affects heart function in animal models of obesity and/or insulin resistance.

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:

This is an excellent idea.

Home Page:

http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/wold-lab