Elena Aikawa Group
Vascular biology, Valve disease, Calcification Research
Members
- Elena Aikawa
- Mark C. Blaser
- Maya Bowden
- Alesandra Campedelli
- Cassandra L. Clift
- Jenny Ge
- Rei Itagawa
- Shinsuke Ito
- Spyridoula Kazantzi
- Sydney Levy
- Mandy E.M. Turner
- Luisa Weiss
Lab Motto
Look outside the box
Advanced high resolution imaging to study calcification morphogenesis (Hutcheson et al., Nature Materials 2016)
Dissecting the heterogeneity of aortic valve calcification through novel molecular imaging and histopathological techniques (Aikawa et al., Circulation 2007)
Identification of therapeutic strategies and targets to resorb and treat cardiovascular calcification (Itou et al., Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2014)
Dr. Elena Aikawa with her two laboratory technicians Alesandra and Maya (left to right).
Banff, Canada, 2016. The International Society of Applied Cardiovascular Biology (ISACB) 15th biannual meeting. Dr. Elena Aikawa, accepts her presidency and provides her vision as the 8th president and the 1st women president of ISACB. The society was established in 1989 by renowned cardiologists, vascular surgeons and bioengineers. Brigham and Women’s Hospital has always been well-represented in the society - Dr. Peter Libby is a founding member and Dr. Frederick J. Schoen served as the 6th president of ISACB. Dr. Aikawa is committed to continue the BWH’s integral role in this esteemed society.
Microcalcifications (orange) form between collagen fibers (green).
About Us
Clinical evidence strongly links arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk. The deposition of calcific mineral in arteries and cardiac valves compromises the biomechanical function of these highly dynamic tissues, leading to heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. No known therapeutic strategies exist to prevent or treat cardiovascular calcification. Members of the calcification group employ novel imaging, proteomic, transcriptomic, molecular biology, and network medicine techniques using in vitro and in vivo models to identify potential points of therapeutic intervention for calcification. These techniques are combined with state-of-the-art histopathological tissue analyses in the Histology Core established by Dr. Elena Aikawa. Researchers from Kowa Pharmaceuticals expedite the translation of these basic findings into drug discovery through assay development and high throughput screening.