Laboratory Mission Statement
The mission of our lab is to advance biomedical understanding while educating future generations of scientists and engineers, providing students with opportunities to learn by creating knowledge and ideas. Our primary objective is to understand the impact of vascular disease on blood flow control, which we hope will provide the foundation for advanced therapeutics to improve vascular health. 

General Research Interests
Our laboratory is at the nexus of two fields- microcirculation and cardiovascular regenerative medicine, hence the lab name. Specifically, we are interested in how the regulation of skeletal muscle blood flow is impacted by arteriogenesis* and risk factors for vascular disease. Studies investigating blood flow control are typical in the microcirculation field, while studies investigating arteriogenesis are typical in the cardiovascular regenerative medidine field. We combine these two fields to understand how various aspects of vascular disease impact the control of skeletal muscle blood flow. Unfortunately, vascular disease and its many risk factors impair the regulation of skeletal muscle blood flow, which can lead to leg pain while walking and decreased quality of life. Although all tissues depend on nutrient and waste exchange through blood, the massive increase in muscle metabolism that occurs when transitioning from rest to locomotion needs to be supported by a similarly massive increase in blood flow. When blood flow doesn’t increase sufficiently, patients experience a burning sensation referred to as intermittent claudication. If left untreated, vascular disease can worsen to the point where limb tissues no longer heal, and amputation is required (vascular disease is the #1 cause of lower limb amputation). Therefore, we hope to understand why various aspects of vascular disease impair the regulation of blood flow to skeletal muscle, and how cell transplantation and exercise can improve these processess blood flow. Although our focus is skeletal muscle, our research is applicable to vascular disease of the heart, aka coronary heart disease- the leading cause of death in the US.

*arteriogenesis is the enlargement of natural bypass arteries after a main artery is blocked

Laboratory Methods
Our studies involve one or more of the following- surgery, cell transplantation, in vivo microscopy, and immunofluroescence.

Publications (Lab Members Bolded)

Gouin KH, Hellstrom SK, Clegg LE, Cutts J, Mac Gabhann F, Cardinal TR, Arterialized collateral capillaries progress from non-reactive to capable of increasing perfusion in an ischemic tree, Microcirculation. 2017 Dec 28 [Epub ahead of print]

Guendel AM, Martin KS, Cutts J, Foley PL, Bailey AM, Mac Gabhann F, Cardinal TR, Peirce, SM, Murine Spinotrapezius Model to Assess the Impact of Arteriolar Ligation on Microvascular Function and Remodeling, Journal of Visualized Experiments, 73, 2013.

Cardinal TR, Struthers KR, Kesler TJ, Yocum MD, Kurjiaka DT, Hoying JB, Chronic hindlimb ischemia impairs functional vasodilation and vascular reactivity in mouse feed arteries, Frontiers in Physiology, 2:91, 2011

Presentations
MCS Annual Meeting 2018- Cell Transplantation & Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis, Cell Transplantation & Arterialized Collateral Capillary Vasodilation, Cell Transplantation & Arteriogenesis in Obesity, Force Production & Arterial Occlusion
MCS Annual Meeting 2017- Sex Differences in Arteriogenesis & Vasodilation
Fall MCS Meeting 2014- Blood Velocity & Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis
MCS Annual Meeting 2014- Vasodilation & Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis, Blood Velocity & Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis, Mechanoadaptation & Collateral Enlargement, Aortic Stenting
Fall MCS Meeting 2013- Vasodilation in Preexisting & Newly Formed Collaterals
MCS Annual Meeting 2013- Vasodilation & Collateral Enlargement, Vasodilation & Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis
MCS Annual Meeting 2012- Ischemia & Bone
MCS Annual Meeting 2011- Vasodilation & Ischemia
MCS Annual Meeting 2010- Vasodilation & Ischemia
Fall MCS Meeting 2009- Vasodilation & Ischemia, Network Architecure & Ischemia
MCS Annual Meeting 2009- Vasodilation & Ischemia, Network Architecture & Ischemia

“Microcirculations” in Nature
After viewing photomicrographs of vascular networks so often, we have begun to “see” these elegant, almost artisitc structures everywhere. After exercising your left brain on the papers and posters above, exercise your right brain with the pictures below.

Gorgonian Coral photographed in the Great Barrier Reef by David Danzeiser looks a lot like the interconnected capillaries of the lung.

Roots from a Maple Tree penetrating a burl on a Large Western Red Cedar (according to Dr Matt Ritter) in Stanley Park, resemble microvessels feeding a solid tumor.