Diana Tabima, PhD
I first started to study Pulmonary Hypertension after I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in conjunction with Colombian Government to join the Vascular Tissue Biomechanics (VTB) Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Naomi Chesler. My primary research was focused on the characterization of the pulmonary vascular bed and it’s coupling with the right ventricle. More specifically, I investigated the measurement of pulmonary impedance in mice and the changes that occur with chronic hypoxia in an in vivo preparation in relation to the time and frequency domains. Moreover, I was looking at ventricular coupling in healthy and hypertensive mice through a pressure-volume admittance catheter.
Upon completion of my doctoral studies, I joined the Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh under the supervision of Dr. Mark Gladwin to further my studies of pulmonary hypertension (PH) by dissecting the nitric oxide (NO) pathway. One focus of this work was in developing animal models to test the relation between metabolic syndrome and pulmonary hypertension and to test whether nitrite has therapeutic activity in metabolic syndrome associated with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF). Additionally, we were working to transfer this knowledge to help in the clinical assessment and management of metabolic syndrome and PH. Because of my scholarship with Fulbright and the Colombian Government, I was called back to Colombia to join the Biomedical Engineering Department at Universidad de los Andes as an Assistant Professor. Throughout the three years I spent back at Universidad de los Andes I gained valuable experiences teaching courses to undergraduate and graduate students, mentoring student research projects, and preparing a variety of proposals for internal and external granting agencies. Currently, I am responsible for coordinating animal studies at the lab, overseeing all studies, integrating all results and preparing results for publication. I’m training graduate research assistants to analyze hemodynamics and right ventricular function from right heart catheterization and imaging data.
