Maria Kontaridis BA, BS, PhD

Maria Kontaridis, Ph.D. as the new Director of Research. She will be just the fourth Director of Research, and the first woman to serve in that role, in the history of the 60 year old institution. Dr. Kontaridis comes to MMRL from Harvard Medical School, where she is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine, and the Director of the Basic Cardiovascular Research Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), one of the nation’s preeminent academic medical centers.

Dr. Kontaridis’ research focuses on the fundamental mechanisms underlying both congenital heart disease and end-stage heart failure, and the processes that lead to abnormal development, aberrant signaling and disease onset. Her work has, so far been awarded grants totaling over 7.5 million dollars, with funding supported by the Milton Foundation, the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation, the Saving Tiny Hearts Foundation, the Penn Center for Orphan Disease Research and Therapy, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Alliance of Lupus Research and the National Institutes of Health, as well as having garnered support from industry and pharmaceutical companies. In December of 2010, Dr. Kontaridis was appointed Fellow of the American Heart Association.