AG Noels – Experimental cardiovascular pathobiochemistry

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Heidi Noels is leading the research group “Experimental cardiovascular pathobiochemistry” within the Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research of the University Hospital Aachen. Her group is focusing on the identification and characterization of pathological inflammatory mechanisms underlying the development of cardiovascular disease. Previous work resulted in the characterization of the role of chemokine receptors and their ligands in regulating inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis. Also, novel insights were revealed in signaling molecules affecting inflammation and atherosclerosis by influencing the transcription factor NF-kB, a key regulator of inflammation. Recent work includes the identification of mediators and mechanisms that underlie the highly increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Ongoing studies focus on the pathophysiological effect of chemokines and uremic toxins in the context of myocardial infarction as well as platelet activation in CKD, with the ultimate aim to support novel therapies to reduce the highly increased cardiovascular burden in CKD patients.

For her research, Dr. Noels received the W.H. Hauss Award of the German Atherosclerosis Society (2018) as well as the Werner Risau Award in Vascular Biology, an Early Career Investigator Award awarded by the ATVB journal.

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Heidi Noels is Managing Director and Member of the Executive Board of the Transregional Collaborative Research Consortium SFB/TRR219 funded by the German Research Foundation (2018-2025). Also, she is program manager of the international Marie Skłodowska-Curie International Training Network “CaReSyAn” between Aachen, Athens, Hannover, Vienna, Montpellier, Toulouse, Maastricht and Stockholm (2018-2021).