Dr. Pamela Lucchesi
received her B.A. from Assumption College in Worcester, MA. Her original goal was to become a neuroscientist but she discovered the exciting world of cardiovascular physiology during a lab rotation in graduate school. She earned a PhD in Biomedical Sciences/Physiology in 1989 from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She completed her postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, Boston University and Emory University. In 1994, Dr. Lucchesi joined the faculty of Loyola University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Physiology and from 1998-2004 served as an Associate Professor of Physiology at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Following an exciting stint in the Department of Pharmacology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences-New Orleans, which included Hurricane Katrina, she became Director of the Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. This position allows her to work closely with physicians to answer questions directly related to pediatric and adult cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Lucchesi’s research focuses on the causes of cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes, inflammation, and birth defects. Current projects include coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes heart failure and patent ductus arteriosus. She uses a combination of animal models, cells and human tissue to tease out the mechanisms that lead to disease progression. This work has resulted in over 50 publications and continuous extramural funding since 1995. Dr. Lucchesi is actively engaged in undergraduate and graduate education and volunteers for the American Heart Association as a K-12 classroom educator. She serves on the APS Cardiovascular Section Steering Committee and on the APS Women in Physiology Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys horseback riding, gardening and trying to keep up with the various animals on her family’s 10-acre farm.