R. John Solaro, Ph.D.
Research Priorities in HCM: Basic and Translational Research
R. John Solaro, Distinguished University Professor and Head, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine at Chicago
Solaro’s major research interest is in the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling myocardial contractility. He has done seminal work on the role of troponin in myofilament activation, the role of phosphorylation in control of cardiac dynamics and in the transition to heart failure, and enhancement of myofilament activation with pharmacological compounds, including two agents in clinical use today. Solaro has served as secretary general for the International Society for Heart Research and president of the Cardiac Muscle Society as well as the Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology. He has served as a full member of several NIH Study Sections, including serving as chair of the Cardiovascular Sciences Study Section. Solaro serves on the editorial boards for several journals, including serving as an associate editor for The American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology and the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. In addition to being named Distinguished Professor, UIC has also honored Dr. Solaro with the Distinguished Faculty and Mentor of the Year Awards.
Barry J. Maron, M.D.
Clinical and Legal Issues in Pre-Participation Screening
Dr. Barry J. Maron, Director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. He’s been with the Foundation for the past 15 years. Formerly he served as senior investigator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for 20 years.
Dr. Maron has published almost 700 papers concerning diagnosis, natural history and management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as well as expression of athlete’s heart and its diagnostic distinction from primary cardiomyopathies, the causes of sudden death in sports and other risks of the athletic field, and scientific and ethical issues related to preparticipation screening and criteria for disqualification from sports competition with cardiovascular disease. Dr. Maron was chairman of the recent American College of Cardiology/European Society of Cardiology consensus panel on the management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as well as chair of three American College of Cardiology Bethesda Conferences providing eligibility and disqualification recommendations for competitive athletes with cardiovascular abnormalities. He has also chaired the American Heart Association position papers on the classifications and genetic profile of cardiomyopathies, guidelines for athlete screening and recreational sports participation for young patients with genetic cardiovascular diseases.
Sharlene Day, M.D.
Risk Stratification, Clinical Management and Exercise Guidelines
Dr. Day graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received her M.D. from New York University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency and cardiovascular medicine fellowship at the University of Michigan. Dr. Day spent five years as a postdoctoral research fellow in cardiovascular biology and physiology, with four years on an institutional training grant before being awarded a five-year Fellow to Faculty Transition Grant from the American Heart Association. She started her own laboratory in 2006 and is currently funded on an R01 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Dr. Day has authored 26 manuscripts and has received several young investigator awards at national meetings. Her research interests are in the regulation of protein turnover and degradation in cardiomyopathies. She is particularly interested in the relationship between normal and mutant sarcomere proteins in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hopes that her work will lead to gene-specific therapies in the future.
Dr. Day practices general cardiology and has been the director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program at the University of Michigan since its inception in 2006. It is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association and has rapidly developed a national reputation. The program has grown to over 700 patients, and has recently expanded to include other inherited cardiovascular conditions. Dr. Day and her colleagues are involved in several institutional and multi-center research studies that she is optimistic will have a major impact on the natural history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. As a runner and triathlete herself, Dr. Day recognizes the important of healthy eating and regular exercise. She is conducting an exercise training study in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to measure the importance of fitness in patients with this condition. She is also interested in seeing athletes with suspected heart problems.
Monica Goble, M.D.
Emergency Response Protocols
Monica Martin Goble, M.D., is a pediatric cardiologist who completed her fellowship at the University of Michigan in 1989. She has practiced in Lansing for 18 years, initially for the MSU College of Human Medicine, and since 2008 for the U-M Health System.
An adult cardiology group donated AEDs to Lansing-area schools over the years and she and colleagues wondered what happened after the AEDs were donated. With Sparrow Hospital pediatric residents and the mid-Michigan Red Cross, a survey of area high schools was conducted. Based on these findings, and with the help of the Michigan Department of Community Health, she and U-M colleagues are working to increase Sudden Cardiac Arrest awareness and preparedness in Michigan schools.
