Francis J. Alenghat, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine Department of Medicine
Biographical Info
Research Interest
Dr. Alenghat’s laboratory focuses on macrophage biology and the inflammatory component of atherosclerosis. His expertise lies within the fields of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology, with a special focus on vascular biology and inflammatory pathways in atherosclerosis. He also has experience in integrin biology, mechanotransduction, and extracellular matrix biology. He seeks to discover basic mechanisms of physiology and pathophysiology that govern cardiovascular health and disease. One of the laboratory’s main projects is to elucidate how a signaling pathway that is activated downstream of integrins in macrophages governs atherogenesis and macrophage polarization.
Clinically, Dr. Alenghat focuses on preventive cardiology, including the intersection between inflammatory disease and cardiovascular disease. His group has developed new avenues of inquiry inspired by the connections between cardiovascular disease and inflammatory connective tissue diseases. The group has also developed a novel tool for discerning the applicability of large landmark clinical trials on specific patients, particularly real-world patients that are not quite as idealized as carefully cultivated clinical trial participants. Dr. Alenghat is committed to a career mentoring future physicians and scientists in our overarching aim to promote health by understanding and reducing atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular disease.
Honors and Awards
Harvard College Detur Prize, Harvard College Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard College Tau Beta Pi award for Excellence in Engineering, Howard Hughes Predoctoral Research Fellowship, Harvard Medical School James Tolbert Shipley Prize for Research, American Heart Association Laennec Young Clinician Award Finalist, LCIC/Merck Future Leaders in CV Medical Research Grant, American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, ATVB Award for Young Investigators, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Thomas W. Smith Fellowship Award, American College of Cardiology William F. Keating Award for Hypertension & Peripheral Vascular Disease, Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), Academic Cardiology Leadership Council of the American College of Cardiology, ASCI Young Physician-Scientist Award, University of Chicago Cardiology Rory R. Childers Teaching Award
Featured Publications
- Association of Atherosclerosis Prevalence With Age, Race, and Traditional Risk Factors in Patients With Psoriasis
- Management of Blood Cholesterol
- A data-zone scoring system to assess the generalizability of clinical trial results to individual patients
- Protein Mimetic and Anticancer Properties of Monocyte-Targeting Peptide Amphiphile Micelles
- The Prevalence of Atherosclerosis in Those with Inflammatory Connective Tissue Disease by Race, Age, and Traditional Risk Factors
- Monocyte-targeting supramolecular micellar assemblies: a molecular diagnostic tool for atherosclerosis
Training
- M.D., 2005, Harvard Medical School, Medicine
- Ph.D., 2005, Harvard University, Biophysics
