PVRI Digital Webinar Series

Patricia A. Thistlethwaite M.D.-Ph.D, is a Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Program Director of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California, San Diego. She served as the first woman President of the Western Thoracic Surgical Society and is the first woman Program Director in Cardiothoracic Surgery in the United States.  Dr. Thistlethwaite’s clinical interests include lung cancer, minimally invasive pulmonary and mediastinal surgery, as well as heart and lung transplantation.  She has been a Castle Connolly Top Doctor and Exceptional Woman in Medicine for the past 19 years. In addition to her clinical career, Dr. Thistlethwaite is considered a leading researcher in the field of pulmonary hypertension.  Her molecular biology lab has been continuously funded by NIH for 26 years.  She has been awarded the Honorary Knowledge and Discovery Award (top 5% of researchers in the U.S.) from the American Health Council, the Jenesis Trailblazer Award from United Therapeutics, Certificate of Excellence Award from the PVRI, and is invested as an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians.  Dr. Thistlethwaite has served in leadership roles in multiple medical and surgical societies and is currently the Chair of the PVRI Digital Webinar series.  She is the author of over 220 peer-reviewed papers, including publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Dr. Franz Rischard is a Professor of Medicine and serves as the Medical Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension program and Associate Dean of Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Arizona, Tucson.  He received his medical degree at the Western University of Health Sciences and his residency and fellowship in Pulmonary/Critical Care at the University of Arizona. For over 20 years at UA, he has dedicated his career to improving our understanding of pulmonary hypertension and under his leadership the program has become a national center of excellence for clinical care, training, and research. He has published over 75 peer-reviewed manuscripts in premier journals such as JAMA, Circulation Heart Failure, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Nature Communication, Immunity, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Chest. He is a member of prestigious organizations such as the Royal Society of Medicine (London), guideline development in the NHLBI Right Ventricular Function Task Force, and on the editorial staff of pulmonary and cardiology journals.  He has served as PI or Co-PI for 15 research grants from NIH/NHLBI, American Heart Association, and foundations. He has served as site-PI or steering committee of over 50 clinical trials. His main area of research focus has been on mechanisms of right ventricular failure and adaptation in Pulmonary Vascular Disease and health disparities in rare disease and the intersection of mental health with drug addiction. Dr Rischard is passionate about mentoring and has trained numerous residents, fellows, and junior faculty in pulmonary hypertension who have become independent researchers of their own right.

Dr. Sweatt is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, and critical care medicine. He sub-specializes in the evaluation and treatment of pulmonary hypertension. He recently completed his subspecialty fellowship training in 2016, and thereafter joined the multidisciplinary pulmonary hypertension team at Stanford University as a clinician and translational researcher. He sees patients at the main Stanford University campus and East Bay site in Emeryville.

Dr. Micheala Aldred earned a first-class Genetics degree from University College London and completed her PhD at the MRC Human Genetics Unit, Edinburgh, studying X-linked retinitis pigmentosa. Her postdoctoral work at Cambridge and Ohio State University focused on cancer genetics and chromosome deletion syndromes. She directed the clinical molecular genetics lab at the University of Leicester, collaborating on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) genetics, including identifying BMPR2 gene mutations linked to familial PAH. Dr. Aldred held faculty roles at Leicester and Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute before moving to Indianapolis.

Her research integrates inherited disease and cancer genetics to investigate PAH and Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT), both involving BMP signaling pathway mutations. She identified somatic chromosomal changes in PAH patient lung cells and explores their molecular roles. Her work also highlights disrupted microRNA processing in PAH, advancing personalized therapies. Funded by the NIH, she actively contributes to national and international pulmonary hypertension consortia.

Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist and cardiologist. He serves as Professor and Vitalant Chair in Vascular Medicine and Director of the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. He studies mechanisms of pulmonary vascular disease and heart-lung-brain communication and has published in Science, Cell, Cell Metab, J Clin Invest, Sci Transl Med, Circulation, and Circ Res, among others. Dr. Chan has served as mentor for >35 trainees with success across career development and independent research funding. Dr. Chan directs a clinical program of excellence in pulmonary hypertension. He founded a humanitarian telemedicine organization serving east Africa and biotech companies developing heart and lung disease therapies. Dr. Chan was elected to the Association of University Cardiologists, Association of American Physicians, and American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), where he is JCI Insight Deputy Editor. Dr. Chan was elected as ASCI Vice President and will become President in 2027. 

Ke Yuan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her lab is dedicated to uncovering the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Her research primarily focuses on defining the distinct roles of vascular cell populations, particularly pericytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells, in the initiation and progression of PAH. The ultimate goal is to identify therapeutic targets capable of reversing pathological remodeling and restoring normal vascular function. In the recent work, her group identified Higd1b as a pericyte-specific gene marker and developed a novel Higd1b-CreERT2 knock-in mouse model. This genetic tool provides a unique opportunity to dissect the multifaceted roles of pericytes in vascular development, homeostasis, and injury response.

Corey E. Ventetuolo, MD, MS, ATSF, FAHA is a Professor of Medicine and Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University, Associate Chief and Director of Academic Affairs for the Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Division at Brown. She is the inaugural Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Care and Medical Director of the Adult ECMO Program at Brown University Health. Her work focuses on sexual dimorphism in pulmonary arterial hypertension and right ventricular function, hormonal modulation as a treatment strategy, and novel methods of endotyping patients with pulmonary vascular disease including precision-based approaches to treatment based on pulmonary artery endothelial cell biopsies obtained at point-of-care. She is also interested in improving quality of care for patients with pulmonary hypertension and those on extracorporeal life support. Dr. Ventetuolo is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.