Flora Sam, MD
Professor, 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.
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
Publications
- Published on 6/9/2022
Roh J, Hill JA, Singh A, Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Heterogeneous Syndrome, Diverse Preclinical Models. Circ Res. 2022 Jun 10; 130(12):1906-1925. PMID: 35679364.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/8/2022
Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. A misdirected conundrum in translational HFpEF research. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2022 Jul; 168:1-2. PMID: 35405105.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/14/2021
Pandey A, Shah SJ, Butler J, Kellogg DL, Lewis GD, Forman DE, Mentz RJ, Borlaug BA, Simon MA, Chirinos JA, Fielding RA, Volpi E, Molina AJA, Haykowsky MJ, Sam F, Goodpaster BH, Bertoni AG, Justice JN, White JP, Ding J, Hummel SL, LeBrasseur NK, Taffet GE, Pipinos II, Kitzman D. Exercise Intolerance in Older Adults With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021 09 14; 78(11):1166-1187. PMID: 34503685.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/19/2021
Valero-Muñoz M, Oh A, Faudoa E, Bretón-Romero R, El Adili F, Bujor A, Sam F. Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Heart Failure With a Preserved Ejection Fraction: Insights Into the Cardiorenal Syndrome. Circ Heart Fail. 2021 09; 14(9):e008372. PMID: 34407636.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/1/2021
Saw EL, Ramachandran S, Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Skeletal muscle (dys)function in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Curr Opin Cardiol. 2021 03 01; 36(2):219-226. PMID: 33394707.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/28/2021
Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Reply to letter by Ye et al., blocking lncRNA H19/miR-194-5p/SIRT1 axis in cardiac myocyte is responsible for doxycycline inhibiting autophagy. Int J Cardiol. 2021 05 15; 331:213. PMID: 33515616.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/27/2021
Valero-Muñoz M, Sam F. Reply to letter by Hou et al., Doxycycline ameliorates autophagy by inhibiting p38 MAPK in cardiac myocytes. Int J Cardiol. 2021 05 15; 331:212. PMID: 33515614.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/16/2020
Valero-Muñoz M, Wilson RM, Bretón-Romero R, Croteau D, Seldin DC, Sam F. Doxycycline decreases amyloidogenic light chain-induced autophagy in isolated primary cardiac myocytes. Int J Cardiol. 2020 12 15; 321:133-136. PMID: 32682005.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/23/2020
Shah SJ, Borlaug BA, Kitzman DW, McCulloch AD, Blaxall BC, Agarwal R, Chirinos JA, Collins S, Deo RC, Gladwin MT, Granzier H, Hummel SL, Kass DA, Redfield MM, Sam F, Wang TJ, Desvigne-Nickens P, Adhikari BB. Research Priorities for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group Summary. Circulation. 2020 03 24; 141(12):1001-1026. PMID: 32202936.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/24/2019
Butt SA, Jeppesen JL, Torp-Pedersen C, Sam F, Gislason GH, Jacobsen S, Andersson C. Cardiovascular Manifestations of Systemic Sclerosis: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study. J Am Heart Assoc. 2019 09 03; 8(17):e013405. PMID: 31446827.
Read at: PubMed
View 68 more publications: View full profile at BUMC