Download Om Tejendra Makwana, PhD

Om Makwana, PhD
Senior Scientist, Non-Clinical Studies
Scientific & Regulatory Affairs
RAI Services Company
Winston-Salem, NC
[email protected]
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Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Arizona
Education
BS in Biology, North Carolina State University-Raleigh, NC
PhD in Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Arizona-Tucson, AZ
Fellowship in Cardiology, University of California, San Francisco-San Francisco, CA
Current Research Interest:
Cardiovascular disease, Toxicology, Inflammation, Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis
Key Areas of Accomplishments and Expertise:
Dr. Makwana has been both a pre and post-doctoral fellow of the American Heart Association. His work at the
University of Arizona primarily focused on cardiac development and toxicology with particular focus on trichloroethylene
(TCE), a man-made halogenated hydrocarbon. Specific endpoints relating to shear stress gene expression during
embryonic heart development were explored along with cytochrome P450 expression and cardiac specific xenobiotic
metabolism. Later work at the University of California, San Francisco focused on cardiovascular physiology - specifically
the inotropic responses of cardiac muscle, the role of the myosin regulatory light chain, right and left ventricular
heterogeneity and the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor biology. Additional work also focused on cardiovascular diseases,
such as myocardial infarction (MI) and pulmonary hypertension (PH); and their effects on myofilament contraction,
essential light chain phosphorylation and matrix metalloproteinase expression. In his current role as a Senior Scientist
for RAI Services Company, Dr. Makwana develops dynamic in vitro cardiovascular models to support the non-clinical
studies division within Scientific and Regulatory Affairs.