By Jennifer ChenThe Daily Northwestern
The last time Boston cardiologist Douglas Losordo lived in Chicago – more than 20 years ago – he was as an intern during a monthlong residency in Cook County.
On Dec. 1, the renowned heart, stem cell and tissue-repair researcher returned to the city, this time as a professor and the new director of the Feinberg School of Medicine’s Cardiovascular Research Institute.
Losordo, 49, is joined by his team of about 17 researchers, all of whom have relocated from Boston, he said.
“Things here are a bit different, and that means access to a vast array of technology and expertise, so it really has been very exciting,” Losordo said. “I don’t know what the right analogy is, but the one that comes to mind is ‘a kid in a candy store.'”
Losordo anticipates building research relationships both within and beyond the medical school. Within Feinberg, he is committed to maintaining common facilities for investigators of different disciplines. He also said he hopes to interact with the general scientific community on both Northwestern campuses, particularly in the areas of bionanotechnolgy and stem cell research.
This new collaborative spirit is “a major change” for Feinberg, said Dr. Hossein Ardehali, an assistant professor of medicine. Collaboration within the school existed before but never to the extent that has been seen under Losordo’s directorship, he said.
“In his short time here he has already shown that the things we usually do in isolation will (now) be done in collaboration,” Ardehali said. “He has said he thinks this is the best approach to science and I completely agree. He has a great vision for the future of biomedical research.”
Before coming to NU, Losordo was a professor at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., for 15 years and the chief of cardiovascular research at Tufts’ Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center for five years.
This year Feinberg’s institute plans to develop four new clinical protocols that involve using the patient’s own stem cells to treat cardioactive or vascular diseases. Researchers hope to provide relief to patients who have exhausted all the currently available therapeutic options, Losordo said.
Losordo said the past five weeks have been nothing but exciting. He has a new laboratory, a new city and a new university to call home. He said he has just begun to scratch the surface at NU.
“I haven’t gotten to know the campus too well yet,” he said. “But the reputation the Midwest has of being friendly has definitely borne out here.”
Reach Jennifer Chen at [email protected].
