About Us

Current Team Cooke Members - May 2003

Left to right: Edwin Chang, Scott Reiff, Gina Droll, Karsten Sydow, Katsuya Iijima, Bing Wang, John Cooke, Ken Lin, Johannes Jacobi, Kathi Kari, Laurel DeLapp

Dr. Cooke received his M.D. from Wayne State University , Michigan , in his home town of Detroit . He trained in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, where he also earned a Ph.D. in Physiology. He was subsequently recruited to the post of Assistant Professor of Vascular Medicine at Harvard Medical School . In 1990 he was recruited to Stanford to direct the Vascular Medicine and Biology Program.

Research Interests

We have a program in vascular research, "From Molecule to Man." The research of our group is a seamless integration of basic investigation and clinical investigation, which enhances the translation of basic research insights into clinical practice. We are particularly interested in understanding endothelial biology in atherosclerosis and angiogenesis, and the role of endothelial pathobiology in peripheral arterial disease.

There are three areas of vascular biology and on which we are focused:

• The endogenous inhibitors of NO synthase: their role in atherosclerosis, and in angiogenesis;

• The endothelial nAChR and its role in pathological angiogenesis, particularly that related to the neovascularization of atherosclerosis.

• The genetic determinants of lesion distribution in peripheral arterial disease.

In pursuing these related investigations at the basic and clinical levels, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with a number of other faculty at Stanford University , most notably Dr. Tom Quertermous with whom we are collaborating on a candidate gene association study to delineate genetic determinants of peripheral arterial disease (see his website at http://reynolds.stanford.edu/)

Our research program is funded by the National Institute of Health, the American Heart Association, other non-profit agencies, and through collaborations with Silicon Valley biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The program is enriched by collaborations throughout the medical school, and by the educational programs fostered by the NHLBI-funded Vascular Biology and Medicine Training Grant, directed by Dr. Cooke.

Clinical Interests:

Dr. Cooke and the faculty in his Section of Vascular Medicine provide medical care for patients with all manner of vascular disease including arterial, venous and lymphatic disease, as well as the associated medical disorders such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus.

Thomas Quertermous, M.S., M.D  William G. Irwin Professor of Medicine Chief - Research, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Dr. Quertermous is the William G. Irwin Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University.

Dr. Quertermous came to Stanford from Vanderbilt University where he served as H. J. Morgan Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Cardiology.

Dr. Quertermous received his undergraduate education at Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa., and subsequently earned an MS degree in Biophysics and Theoretical Biology at the University of Chicago. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago, where he also completed housestaff training in internal medicine.

Subsequently he moved to Boston, where he served as clinical fellow in the Cardiac Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He also completed a research fellowship in the Department of Genetics at the Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Jon Seidman, and then returned to the Massachusetts General Hospital as an attending physician and principal laboratory investigator.

Dr. Quertermous was one of the first scientists to apply the methods of molecular biology to the study of the physiology and pathophysiology of the blood vessel wall. His laboratory provided fundamental insights into the biology of the endothelin family of vasoconstrictor molecules and employed endothelin-1 as a model of endothelial cell-specific gene expression. Interests in the Quertermous laboratory over the past years have extended to encompass embryonic development of the cardiovascular system, and a number of novel genes have been cloned and linked to basic development.

Dr. Quertermous has received numerous awards and given invited lectureships in national and international forums. He has served as a member of study sections at the National Institutes of Health and National American Heart Association. He is a member of the Association of University Cardiologists, and a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (young turks). He has served on the editorial board of a number of journals, including Circulation, and is a frequent reviewer of manuscripts submitted to Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr Wang analyzing chemiluminescence data.

Dr Chang leads the DNA microarray studies of cholnergic angiogenesis.

Dr Iijima studies the role of ADMA in CMV induced endothelial dysfunction.

Dr Ishii-Watabe preparing for DNA hybridization.