Dianna Milewicz, MD, PhD

Dianna M. Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D. is a member of The Texas Heart Institute Academic Professional Staff, with many active research collaborations at The Institute, including projects with Dr. Stephanie Coulter in the Center for Women’s Heart & Vascular Health.

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Dianna M. Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., is the President George H.W. Bush Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine, Director of the Division of Medical Genetics and Vice-Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. She completed her postgraduate training in internal medicine, specialized further in medical genetics, and forged a career in translational studies focused on genetic predisposition to vascular diseases. She has received numerous honors and awards for her research, including the Antoine Marfan Award, the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, and the University of Texas Presidential Scholars Award for Excellence in Research. She has been inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Milewicz has been the Director of the M.D./Ph.D. Program offered jointly between the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center institutions for over 10 years and is Chair of the GREAT MD/PhD Section Committee.

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Texas Heart Institute Positions

Current Projects

Education

  • Medical School:

    New York University Medical Center

  • Internship:

    University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

  • Residency:

    University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

  • Fellowships:

    University of Oklahoma & Oklahoma City College of Medicine

Academic & Clinical Affiliations

  • Memorial Hermann
  • University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
  • University of Texas Medical School at Houston McGovern Medical School
  • UT Physicians

Honors, Awards and Memberships

Publications

Klarin, D., Devineni, P., Sendamarai, A. K. et al. (2023). Genome-wide association study of thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection in the Million Veteran Program. Nat Genet 55, 1106–1115. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01420-z.
Kaw, K., Chattopadhyay, A., Guan, P. et al. (2023). Smooth muscle α-actin missense variant promotes atherosclerosis through modulation of intracellular cholesterol in smooth muscle cells. Eur Heart J, ehad373. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad373.
Ojha, K. R., Kim, H., Padgham, S. et al. (2023). Smooth muscle-alpha actin R149C pathogenic variant downregulates integrin recruitment at cell-matrix adhesions and decreases cellular contractility. Int J Mol Sci 24, 9616. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119616.
Guo, D.-C., Duan, X., Mimnagh, K. et al. (2023). An FBN1 deep intronic variant is associated with pseudoexon formation and a variable Marfan phenotype in a five generation family. Clin Genet 103, 704–708. https://doi.org/10.1111/cge.14322.
Ouzounian, M., LeMaire, S. A. and Milewicz, D. M. (2023). Heritable aortic root aneurysms. Ann Cardiothorac Surg 12, 265–267. https://doi.org/10.21037/acs-2023-avs1-16.
Kwartler, C., Pedroza, A., Kaw, A. et al. (2023). Nuclear smooth muscle α-actin in vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation. Res Sq, rs.3.rs-1623114. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1623114/v1.
Howard, T. S., Chiang, D. Y., Ceresnak, S. R. et al. (2023). Atrial standstill in the pediatric population: a multi-institution collaboration. JACC Clin Electrophysiol 9, 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacep.2022.08.022.
Boerio, M. L., Engelhardt, N. M., Cuddapah, S. et al. (2022). Further evidence that ARIH1 rare variants predispose to thoracic aortic disease. Circ Genom Precis Med 15, e003707. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCGEN.122.003707.
Isselbacher, E. M., Preventza, O., Black, J. H. et al. (2022). 2022 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Aortic Disease: A Report of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001106.
Writing Committee Members, Isselbacher, E. M., Preventza, O. et al. (2022). 2022 ACC/AHA Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Aortic Disease: A Report of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol, S0735-1097(22)05769–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.08.004.

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