A quarter of all deaths in Canada are caused by complications associated with cardiovascular disease. The main cause of vascular disease is atherosclerosis, or build-up of plaque in the arteries. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. One subset of inflammatory cells, macrophages, play an important role in atherosclerosis progression. How these cells gather in plaques, however, is not clear. Macrophages can appear in plaques through recruitment of their monocyte precursors from the bloodstream. Our recently published data shows macrophages also proliferate or divide locally within the plaque. We are currently pursuing three main research streams:
- Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto