Kent L. Thornburg PhD, MS

Kent L. Thornburg, Ph.D., is the M. Lowell Edwards Chair of Cardiovascular Research, Professor of Medicine, in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. He holds joint professorships in the Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology, Biomedical Engineering, and Obstetrics & Gynecology. He directs the Center for Developmental Health in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute and the OHSU Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness. He has expertise in cardiac and pulmonary physiology, planetology, and developmental programming. He studies the physiological adaptations to pregnancy and the roles of maternal diet and body composition in regulating placental and fetal growth and lifelong health. He collaborates with scientists in England, New Zealand, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, and India. He oversees clinical studies on pregnancy in rural Oregon and Alaska.

Kent Thornburg trained in developmental physiology, planetology and heart development in zoology at Oregon State University for the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. He studied cardiovascular physiology at OHSU as an NIH Fellow. He then completed studies at Washington University and the University of Oregon in electron microscopy and physics.

Kent Thornburg is an elected fellow of the American Physiological Society and has served as Editor of the international journal, Placenta, as a consulting editor for Pediatric Research; he currently sits on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology. He serves regularly on advisory panels at the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and the Children’s Heart Foundation and serves on the scientific advisory board of the Preeclampsia Foundation. He has been regularly involved as director of T32 research training for the Knight Cardiovascular Institute and has held grants from four institutes at NIH. He recently co-chaired the task force to determine the 10-year vision of the developmental origins of health and disease for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.