Leslie Anne Leinwand

Cardiac biologist focused on genetics and molecular physiology of inherited diseases of the heart and how gender and diet modify the heart. Studying these diseases has required multidisciplinary approaches, involving molecular biology, mouse genetics, mouse cardiac physiology, and the analysis of human tissues. Recently her group discovered that pythons use a small subset of fatty acids as signaling molecules to adjust to the need to dramatically increase heart size in response to a meal, a discovery with significant implications for hypertrophy of the heart, a key feature of cardiomyopathy. Cofounder of the intercampus Cardiovascular Institute, which promotes cardiovascular disease research, and several companies including Myogen, Hiberna, a biotechnology company using pythons and hibernating ground squirrels to develop novel pharmaceuticals, and MyoKardia, which develops therapeutics for inherited cardiomyopathies. Investigator, American Heart Association, and principal investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Biological Sciences Initiative supporting undergraduate research and K-12 outreach for high school students and teachers.