Loren Wold, PhD, FAHA, FCVS, associate professor and director of biomedical research at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, has been awarded a $1.56 million four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH/NHLBI) for the study entitled, “Defining the Impact of E-cigarettes on Cardiac Pathophysiology.” This study will be performed in collaboration with Philip Binkley, MD; Paul Janssen, PhD, FAHA; Ahmet Kilic, MD; and Peter Mohler, PhD, of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
The study points out that while conventional cigarettes and air pollution have already been linked to adverse cardiovascular outcomes, little is known about the effects of e-cigarettes. Calling e-cigarettes a “new source of emissions” of toxic gasses and fine particulate matter, the study states, “It remains unknown if e-cigarette use increases inflammation and fibrosis long-term, leading to structural and functional damage to heart and vasculature.” The study proposes to define the impact of e-cigarette aerosol exposure on cardiac physiology, the function of key cardiac cell populations and key primary human cardiac cell populations.
“The increased use of e-cigarettes is alarming, particularly because there is limited data on how the heart is affected by exposure from e-cigarette smoke,” said Wold.
Wold’s lab work focuses on external triggers of cardiovascular disease, with special emphasis on the role of cancer cachexia and air pollution, investigating how the cardiovascular system is affected by these stressors. He is currently principal investigator (PI) of two other NIH R01-funded studies: “mechanisms of exposure-induced tissue functional and pathological changes in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease,” and “muscle function and depression-like behavior in a mouse model of cancer fatigue.” In addition, he is co-investigator of a new (effective Sep. 1, 2017) R01-funded study of the effects of World Trade Center dust on cardiopulmonary function.
At The Ohio State University, Wold is involved in training undergraduates, graduate students, medical students and postdoctoral Fellows in basic lab techniques, as well as tools for effective manuscript and grant writing. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of the Elsevier journal Life Sciences.
