Dawood Darbar, MBChB, MD, FACC, FAHA, FHRS
Co-Director, Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
Chief, Division of Cardiology
Director, Center for Cardiovascular Research
Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Department of Medicine
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About
A major focus of Dr. Darbar’s career is the training and mentorship of young physicians and scientists. The goal of his research since inception has been the translation of cardiovascular pathophysiology from bench to bedside, with a focus on atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice. Dr. Darbar’s team has developed a research program that addresses both clinical management as well as underlying genetic issues in AF establishing the Vanderbilt and UIC AF Registries, key enabling resources for studies that now include clinical data and biosamples from over 500 subjects and their families. These resources have been used to identify clinical, genetic, and molecular subtypes of AF, laying the groundwork for a long-term vision of replacing empiric treatment for AF with personalized and mechanism-based therapy.
Dr. Darbar’s research interests marry perfectly with his work as a clinical electrophysiologist where he looks after patients and families with inherited arrhythmia syndromes. Thus, his team has successfully created a high-quality translational research program that spans the whole spectrum from molecular, cellular, and whole animal studies to human translational trials testing novel hypotheses and defining the pathophysiology of AF. His lab provides an excellent environment for training in molecular biology and genetics, ion channel physiology and human disease modeling systems including using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes generated from human cells for MSTP trainees.
As a physician-scientist, Dr. Darbar has been fortunate in having opportunities to foster the development of undergraduates, MD-PhD students, medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty. He Has mentored over 35 over the last decade including five MSTP students and 12 fellows, 8 of whom have secured extramural funding including American Heart Association and NIH K23/K08 awards. As co-director of the UI COM MSTP, he is dedicated to mentorship and ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion. He provides guidance for the MSTP including evaluating its successes, identifying opportunities for improvement, and setting standards for trainees that are supported by the T32-funded training program. His roles include overseeing student recruitment (as chair of the MSTP Admissions Committee), liaising with the MSTP Internal Advisory Committee on M3-M4 curricula, providing student advising as a house (Thymine) leader and the M3-M4 cohort leader, and career development.