Professional Bio
Huan Tao, MD, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
He earned a MD degree from the University of Nanjing Traditional Chinese Medicine and a PhD in Internal Medicine from the University of Nanjing Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. In 2005, he came to Vanderbilt University Medical Center as a Postdoc fellow and rewarded by NIH T32 Training Grant.
Dr. Tao continued his postdoctoral studies in Lipid and Atherosclerosis and Obese at Vanderbilt and in 2016, become a research faculty member at VUMC. His primary research interest focuses on the roles and mechanisms of macrophage apoptosis, efferocytosis and autophagy in setting of murine models of atherosclerosis, lipid and lipoprotein in macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and inflammation, and HDL functions in human diseases.
He has successfully revealed SR-BI novel functions and mechanisms in the modulations of macrophage efferocytosis and autophagy, and first time demonstrated that scavenging of reactive dicarbonyls with 2-hydroxybenzylamine reduces atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic Ldlr?/? mice. These important findings have been published in Nature Communications, JCI and other journals.
Dr. Tao's current studies include: 1. Dysfunctional HDL and Atherosclerosis in human Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH); 2. The roles and mechanisms of 2-Hydroxybenzylamine (2-HOBA) and 5'-O-pentyl-pyridoxamine (PPM) in treatment and regression of atherosclerosis in murine models of Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH); 3. Identification and characterization of novel SR-BI functions in macrophages in the setting of atherosclerosis.
Publications
Education
MD - Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1986
PhD - Internal Medicine - Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2004
Fellowship - Visiting Res Fellow - Vanderbilt University, 2005
Fellowship - Research Fellow - Vanderbilt University, 2010
Fellowship - Research Fellow - Vanderbilt University, 2011
Fellowship - Research Fellow - Vanderbilt University, 2016
Contact
Email
Kimryn.Rathmell@Vumc.Org
Address
777 Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232-6307