Francesco Ramirez DSc, PhD

Dr. Ramirez is the Dr. Amy and James Elster Chair of Molecular Biology (Connective Tissue Diseases) and Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics, and of Medicine-Cardiology. Trained as a molecular geneticist and developmental biologist, Dr. Ramirez' research interest is the study of congenital and acquired disorders of the connective tissue to delineate the role of the extracellular matrix in embryonic development, postnatal growth and adult homeostasis, and to identify biological targets for therapeutic intervention in Marfan syndrome and scleroderma. Recent reviews in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development and Current Opinion in Cell Biology describe his mouse studies implicating fibrillin assemblies in the extracellular control of TGF-B and BMP signaling and their translation into a new therapy against aneurysm progression in Marfan syndrome.