Flora Sam, MD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Sam is the present Director, ad interim, of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute. She is an advanced heart failure clinical cardiologist and a physician-scientist. She is a translational researcher and the PI of her NIH funded lab. She is an expert in cardiac myocyte biology and in mechanisms of myocardial remodeling in cardiomyopathy, both in humans and animal models. She is a recognized expert in "heart failure with preserved ejection fraction" (HFpEF) /diastolic heart failure and "heart failure with reduced ejection fraction" (HFrEF)/systolic heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

The Sam lab is focused on three major areas of investigation:
1) Pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic mechanisms that mediate cardiac remodeling in heart failure, cardiac hypertrophy and hypertension.
2) Investigating the relationship between matrix markers and heart failure in humans with cardiac amyloid and scleroderma.
3) Investigating cross talk between adipocyte-derived factors, myokines and cardiokines in heart failure.

Publications

  • Published 5/13/2025

    Saw EL, Werner LD, Cooper HL, Pimental DR, Zamani P, Chirinos JA, Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Musclin Counteracts Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction and Exercise Intolerance in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction. Circ Heart Fail. 2025 May 13; e012350. PMID: 40358602.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/8/2025

    Valero-Muñoz M, Saw EL, Cooper H, Pimentel DR, Sam F. White Adipose Tissue in Obesity-Associated HFpEF: Insights From Mice and Humans. JACC Basic Transl Sci. 2025 May 08; 101262. PMID: 40338771.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/17/2023

    Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Endothelin-1: Is it Time to "Biomark" the Cardiac-Tumor-Treatment Nexus in Breast Cancer? JACC CardioOncol. 2023 Oct; 5(5):701-703. PMID: 37969651.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/23/2023

    El-Adili F, Lui JK, Najem M, Farina G, Trojanowska M, Sam F, Bujor AM. Correction: Periostin overexpression in scleroderma cardiac tissue and its utility as a marker for disease complications. Arthritis Res Ther. 2023 Jan 23; 25(1):11. PMID: 36691037.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/1/2022

    Saw EL, Werner LD, Zamani P, Chirinos JA, Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Skeletal muscle phenotypic switching in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022; 9:1016452. PMID: 36531739.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 85 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Member, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute
    Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Websites

Education

  • University of the Witwatersrand, MD

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