Arterial and Venous Interventional Procedures in Small and Large Animals

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Aloke Finn

CVPath Institute

Dr. Aloke Finn is a physician-scientist and internationally recognized expert in vascular biology and vascular device research. He currently serves as president and chief scientific officer at CVPath Institute, overseeing device development research. He also runs a molecular lab focusing on the mechanisms of vascular wall injury and healing, the genetics of sudden cardiac death, and the molecular basis of coronary artery disease. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland, where he serves as a cardiologist and interventional cardiologist.

Alyssa Grogan

CVPath Institute

Dr. Alyssa Grogan is a principal research scientist and the head of the research team at CVPath Institute. She joined CVPath in 2023 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Medicine/Cardiology at Duke University, where she specialized in GPCR pharmacology and small-molecule drug screening for heart disease. Dr. Grogan earned her PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she studied cardiac muscle physiology and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation. Her research interests encompass the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases and the discovery and validation of new treatments.

Collection Overview

Cardiovascular diseases, which include a range of conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels, are a leading cause of mortality worldwide. To better understand the mechanisms contributing to disease progression and evaluate new treatment strategies, it is crucial to develop appropriate preclinical models. Cardiovascular interventional techniques can be performed on both small and large animals to model various vascular phenotypes and test the safety and effectiveness of cardiovascular medical devices and other interventional or pharmacological treatments.

In small animals, such as mice and rats, surgical models of vascular injury, altered blood flow, and thrombosis allow researchers to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying disease development, which can lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets. Large animal models, like pigs and rabbits, are useful for studying vascular injury and healing and assessing the response to devices such as balloons and stents, as their anatomical size can better accommodate catheter-based procedures and imaging.

This Methods Collection aims to provide researchers with valuable experimental models to elucidate the mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases and advance the development of effective treatments.