Aortic, Vascular and Valvular Disease Research

Members of the CVRI Theme “Aortic, Vascular and Valvular Disease Research” lead a broad range of translational and clinical investigations spanning valvular heart disease, aortopathy, peripheral arterial disease, and hypertension. Their work focuses on defining the genetic, epigenetic, and molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these conditions, as well as developing and evaluating novel medical, surgical, and device-based therapeutic strategies. 

Thoracic Aortopathy and Valvular Heart Disease: Current clinical projects include participation in key registries, industry-sponsored randomized clinical trials, the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network, and provide an opportunity for investigator-initiated studies to surgeon-scientists using the ATLAS (Applied Statistics and Machine Learning for the Advancement of Surgery) platform and proprietary Aortic Surgery Patient Database, which houses data from over 10,000 aortic interventions performed within the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Notably, the landmark multicenter study focused on aortic valve outcomes in patients with Marfan syndrome has resulted in several publications and will continue through 2030. Using large publicly available data sets, ATLAS aims to apply advanced statistical theory to identify predictors of adverse events and best-practice parameters in cardiothoracic surgery. Ongoing study of clinical outcomes for a variety of aortic and valvular procedures captured in the Aortic Surgery Patient Database have resulted in several landmark publications elucidating complex surgical scenarios to better understand operative risk. Regarding ongoing sponsored clinical trials, participation ensures exposure to cutting-edge technology as new devices are developed to treat valvular and aortic disease.

• Aortic Valve Operative Outcomes in Marfan Patients
• The International Registry for Acute Aortic Dissection
• Montalcino Aortic Consortium: Precision Medicine for Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease
• Distal Aortic Dissection after Proximal Repair of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection
• What is a “Bovine Aortic Arch”? A Call for the Houston Arch Classification
• ATLAS: Applied Statistics and Machine Learning for the Advancement of Surgery
• Core Clinical Center of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network
• Evaluation of the Thoraflex Hybrid Device for use in the Repair or Replacement of the Ascending Aorta, Aortic Arch and Descending Aorta in an Open Surgical Procedure.
• Evaluation of the Gore® TAG® Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis in the Treatment of DeBakey Type I/II Aortic Dissection
• Evaluation of the Gore® TAG® Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis in the Treatment of Lesions of the Aortic Arch and Descending Thoracic Aorta
• Evaluation of the Gore® Excluder® Thoracoabdominal Branch Endoprosthesis in the Treatment of Thoracoabdominal and Pararenal Aortic Aneurysms
• Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement with The Medtronic Intrepid TMVR System in Patients with Severe Symptomatic Mitral Regurgitation
• Small Annuli Randomized to Evolut or Sapien Trial
• Post Market Clinical Follow-Up Study in Patients Treated with The On-X Ascending Aortic Prosthesis
• A Prospective, Single Arm, Multi-Center Clinical Investigation to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of AMDS in the Treatment of Acute DeBakey Type I Dissection
• Prospective Randomized Single Arm Multicenter Evaluation of the Durability of Aortic Bioprostheses/Valves with Resilia Tissue in Subjects under 65

Advanced Endovascular Aortic Research Program: Advanced Endovascular Aortic Research Program operates under the leadership of Dr. Gustavo S. Oderich, Professor of Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Distinguished Endowed Chair in Surgery, Chief of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, and Director of Baylor Medicine Center for Aortic Surgery. Dr. Ying Huang, as Program Director, is responsible for the execution, coordination, and oversight of all clinical research activities. The mission of the research program is to advance device-based therapies and improve both early and late outcomes for patients with aortic disease through rigorous physician-sponsored and industry-sponsored clinical trials, comparative-effectiveness studies, national and international multicenter prospective and retrospective observational registries, translational research, and quality-improvement initiatives – all grounded in a commitment to patient safety, equity, and rapid integration of evidence into clinical practice. The program’s research priorities include assessing the safety and effectiveness of novel endovascular and imaging technologies for complex aortic repair; conducting comparative analyses of outcomes following endovascular versus open aortic repair across a broad spectrum of patient risk profiles; optimizing perioperative management and long-term surveillance strategies to reduce aortic-related adverse events and reinterventions; strengthening national and international collaborations to better understand variations in outcomes across regions and healthcare systems; and building robust infrastructure for clinical and imaging data to support artificial-intelligence-driven research and innovation. In addition, the program collaborates with basic and translational science groups to develop and validate imaging, molecular, and genetic biomarkers that enhance risk stratification and guide individualized treatment selection. 

• Clinical outcomes and quality of life measures in patients treated for complex abdominal, thoracoabdominal and aortic arch aneurysms or dissections with fenestrated and branched stent grafts (physician-sponsored, Baylor funded)
• United States aortic research consortium (US ARC) database (physician-initiated, Cook funded)

Vascular Surgery Outcomes and Peripheral Arterial Disease Research Program: The Vascular Surgery Outcomes and Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Research Program operates under the leadership of Dr. Jayer Chung, MD, MSc, Professor of Surgery and Principal Investigator, with key contributions from Dr. Cuneyt Koksoy and Dr. Ilse Torres. The program is dedicated to improving patient-centered outcomes for individuals with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), acute limb ischemia (ALI), and other manifestations of peripheral arterial disease through rigorous clinical research, translational collaborations, and innovative technology integration. Our mission is to advance evidence-based care for patients with PAD by leveraging comparative effectiveness trials, national multicenter registries, artificial intelligence (AI) applications, translational projects, and wearable technology to optimize diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes. We aim to reduce amputation rates, improve quality of life, and accelerate the translation of novel therapies into clinical practice. The program’s research priorities include comparative effectiveness trials of endovascular and open surgical interventions for CLTI and ALI.  In particular, via multi-center registries and industry collaborations, we prioritize the longitudinal assessment of wound healing, limb salvage, and amputation-free survival.  In addition, we have several projects that aim to develop and validate AI-driven tools for angiographic image analysis and depression detection in PAD patients.  In particular, we aim to integrate wearable-derived behavioral and physiologic data to predict outcomes and mental health status.  Secondly, we aim to build a robust clinical and imaging database to support machine learning and predictive analytics to automate angiographic analysis.  Finally, we aim to develop collaborative translational studies exploring molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis, restenosis, and wound healing.The program maintains a longitudinal outcomes database of >900 CLTI patients and partners with leading institutions, including Rice University for AI and wearable technology research, and national collaborators through the Acute Limb Ischemia Research Consortium. Industry-sponsored trials (e.g., STRIDE II) and philanthropic support (Roderick D. MacDonald Fund, PATHS-UP Digital Health Seed Fund) further strengthen our research capacity.

Aortopathy: The Aortic Disease Research Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine conducts basic and translational research on thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. The laboratory aims to define the molecular mechanisms that drive disease initiation and progression and to identify therapeutic targets that can prevent aortic degeneration. The laboratory investigates dynamic changes in signaling pathways, epigenetic regulation, aortic cell phenotypic transitions, and inflammatory responses that shape aortic injury, repair, and remodeling. The research integrates human tissue and biomarker analyses, multiple clinically relevant mouse models of aortic disease, detailed aortic structural and biomechanical assessments, and mechanistic cell-culture systems. The laboratory leverages a broad range of molecular and cellular approaches, with particular emphasis on single-cell omics platforms—including scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, and spatial transcriptomics—to resolve cell-type–specific and spatially organized mechanisms underlying aortic pathology. The laboratory also house the Human Thoracic Aortic Disease Tissue Bank, which contains blood samples, aortic tissues, and detailed phenotypic information from more than 4,500 patients with aortic aneurysms or dissections. This extensive biorepository provides an unparalleled resource for comprehensive investigation of the genetic, epigenetic, molecular, and cellular determinants of thoracic aortic disease across diverse patient populations.

• Epigenetic Regulation of Trained Immunity in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections (Funded by NIH)
• Endothelial Dysfunction in the Development of Aortic Degeneration, Dissection, and Rupture (Funded by NIH)
• Pro-inflammatory Pyroptotic Cell Death in Aortic Degeneration (Funded by NIH)
• Cellular and Molecular Drivers of Acute Aortic Dissections (Funded by Leducq Foundation)
• Mitochondrial Damage Induced Programmed Cell Death in Sporadic Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection (Funded by NIH)
• Prediction of Aortic Dissection and Rupture in Marfan Syndrome Using Nano-Radiomics (Funded by AHA)
• Molecular Signature of Sex Chromosome Genes Associated with Sex-Dependent Susceptibility to Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections (Funded by AHA Strategically-Focused Vascular Disease Research Network Award)

• Lauren Barron, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Complex aortic and valve surgery, especially aortic root replacement, alternative access transcatheter valve replacement (TAVR), patient optimization for surgery
• Neal Barshes, M.D., MPH – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy; Peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus
• Jeffrey T. Bates, M.D. – Medicine – Cardiovascular Research; General Internal Medicine, Vascular Medicine, Hypertension
• Jayer Chung, M.D. – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy; Cardiovascular disease, especially acute limb ischemia, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease
• Lorraine Cornwell, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; TAVR, optimization of clinical outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery, especially minimally invasive procedures, off-pump CABG, valve repair, and VATS lobectomy
• Joseph Coselli, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Complex aortic open surgical and endovascular repair, especially the aortic root, aortic arch, and thoracoabdominal aorta, clinical outcomes, Marfan syndrome
• Heather Dickerson, M.D. – Pediatrics – Cardiology and Cardiac Critical Care; Pediatric cardiac critical care, including ventricular assist devices and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, pediatric cardiology with a focus in echocardiography and single ventricle cardiac lesions
• Ravi Ghanta, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Aortic and valve surgery, ventricular remodeling in cardiac failure, CABG, tissue engineering, application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to clinical outcomes
• Dr. Ying Huang, M.D, Ph.D. – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy – Clinical researcher in cardiovascular and vascular diseases with a focus on advanced endovascular aortic repair, investigational device exemption device (IDE) clinical trials and research for complex aortic aneurysms, clinical guidelines, and expertise in clinical research methodology, biostatistics, and data science
• Dr. Cuneyt Koksoy, M.D. – Vascular Surgery: PAD outcomes research, multicenter registry coordination, sex-stratified analyses in ALI, advanced imaging interpretation, and translational collaborations in wound healing and atherosclerosis
• Srikanth Koneru, M.D. – Medicine – Cardiology; Structural Interventional Imaging, Cardiac CT and MRI Imaging, Cardio-Oncology and Strain Imaging, General Cardiology, Valvular Heart Disease, Disease of Aorta, Echocardiographic guided AV Optimization, HOCM, Cardiomyopathy
• Veronica Lenge De Rosen, M.D. – Radiology – Cardiothoracic Imaging; Imaging of coronary vasculature, imaging of ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, imaging of lung and pleural malignancy, lung transplant, and interstitial lung disease
• Yanming Li, Ph.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Mechanisms for aortic aneurysm and dissection, advanced computational analysis
• Kenneth K. Liao, M.D., Ph.D. – Surgery –  Minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgery, Minimally invasive and robotic mitral valve repair/replacement, Minimally invasive and robotic aortic valve repair/replacement, robotic coronary artery bypass, Heart and lung transplantation, Ventricular assist device (VAD), Aortic aneurysm repair, Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and mechanical circulatory support
• Dr. Steve Maximus, M.D. – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy – Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections, fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair, endovascular repair of aortic arch aneurysms and dissections, physician modified endografts (PMEG)
• Dr. Thanila de Araujo Macedo, M.D, MBA – Radiology and Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy – Advanced Aortic Imaging Techniques including Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), 4D Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) and integrated Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven analysis of imaging data
• Joseph Mills, M.D. – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy; Approaches to reduce diabetes-related lower extremity amputation
• Tamer Mohamed, Ph.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic; Endogenous heart repair and cardiac regeneration
• Marc Moon, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Complex aortic and valve surgery, especially repair of the mitral valve and aortic repair during pregnancy, TAVR, CABG, arrhythmia ablation
• Shaine Morris, M.D., MPH – Pediatrics – Cardiology; Advanced imaging techniques for genetically triggered aortopathy
• Dr. Gustavo S. Oderich, M.D. – Surgery – Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy – Open and endovascular repair of aortic disease, including fenestrated and branched endovascular repair, with experience across arterial and venous beds such as carotid, visceral, and peripheral vessels. Global principal investigator for Cook investigational device exemption device (IDE) clinical trial, with clinical research focus on advanced endovascular and imaging technologies applied to complex endovascular aortic repair and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven clinical research
• Vicente Orozco-Sevilla, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Complex aortic open surgical and endovascular repair, hybrid repair approaches, clinical outcomes
• Wei Pan, M.D. – Anesthesiology – Cardiothoracic; Autologous blood transfusion during complex aortic repair, temperature management during hypothermic circulatory arrest, cerebrospinal fluid drainage
• Todd Rosengart, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Cardiothoracic surgery, off-pump surgery, minimally invasive aortic, coronary and valvular surgery, mitral valve repair or replacement
• Ying Shen, M.D. – Surgery – Cardiothoracic Surgery; Mechanisms for aortic aneurysm and dissection
• Guilherme Vianna Silva, M.D. – Medicine – Cardiology; Transcatheter treatments for valvular disease
• Addison Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. – Medicine – Hypertension; Hypertension, clinical pharmacology
• Dr. Ilse Torres, M.D. – Vascular Surgery; Acute limb ischemia management, thrombotic burden analysis, clinical trial participation, and quality-of-life outcomes research