Ilka Pinz , Ph.D.

Center for Molecular Medicine
Maine Medical Center Research Institute
81 Research Drive
Scarborough, ME 04704
(207) 885-8280 Office
(207) 885-8179 Fax
pinzi@mmc.org

Biosketch

Ilka Pinz received her Ph.D. in physiology at the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, University of Bremen, Germany. She did her postdoctoral training in the NMR laboratory of Dr. Joanne Ingwall at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Her research focused on cardiac energy metabolism in several mouse models of heart failure. After leaving a senior research associate/adjunct assistant professorship position at the University of New England she joined MMCRI in 2005 and supports the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Core facility.

Research Interests

The research focus of my laboratory is on mechanisms leading to the development of cardiomyopathy in dyslipidemia. With the growing incidence of obesity, and the burden this puts on the health care system, it is important to understand the mechanisms how certain fatty acids and their metabolites contribute to signalling pathways in cardiomyocytes that cause a decline in contractile performance. In particular, the interaction of fatty acid metabolism and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), a cytokine released by adipocytes and cardiomyocytes, are poorly understood. We utilize transgenic mouse models of dyslipidemia and TNFalpha over-expression to investigate contractile performance in-vivo and of the isolated heart.

Lab Photo