Sadek Lab

Sadek Laboratory team at the Sarver Heart Center

Members of the Sadek Laboratory at the Sarver Heart Center on National Wear Red Day.

The Sadek Laboratory has a longstanding interest in understanding the mechanisms of cardiomyocyte cell cycle regulation as a means of enhancing the endogenous regenerative capacity of the myocardium. We also study mechanisms of contractile dysfunction and heart failure in various types of cardiomyopathies. 

Our goal is to develop safe, innovative, and accessible therapeutics. To this end, we leverage various genetic, metabolic, bioinformatic, biophysical and physiological approaches to identify novel and repurposed compounds for the treatment of heart failure
 


 

Research Themes

Cardiac Regeneration

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and endogenous myocardial regeneration

Cardiomyopathy Mechanisms

Investigating structural, metabolic, and molecular pathways that drive cardiomyopathy and heart failure

Drug Repurposing for Cardiovascular Disease

Identifying FDA-approved compounds capable of stimulating cardiac regeneration and reversing contractile dysfunction in cardiomyopathies.

Precision Cardiovascular Medicine

Developing patient-specific therapeutic strategies by linking mechanistic discoveries to clinical phenotypes


 

Publications

Recent publications from the Sadek Laboratory reflect ongoing work in cardiac regeneration, cardiomyocyte biology, and translational strategies to identify new therapies for heart disease.

Nature Cardiovascular Research | March 2024
Identification of FDA-approved drugs that induce heart regeneration in mammals

This study identified FDA-approved compounds with the potential to stimulate heart regeneration in mammals, advancing a translational strategy for repairing the injured heart.

PubMed

Circulation | January 2025
A Latent Cardiomyocyte Regeneration Potential in Human Heart Disease

This work provided evidence that the human heart may retain a previously underappreciated regenerative potential in the setting of disease.

PubMed Related News

A comprehensive list of publications from the Sadek Laboratory is available on PubMed.

View on PubMed


People

Principal Investigator

Faculty

Ivan Menendez Montes, PhD

Assistant Professor, Medicine

Research Scholars

Waleed Elhelaly, MD, PhD

Instructor / Research Scholar

Tara Tassin, PhD

Instructor / Research Scholar

Malay Chaklader, PhD, MBA

Instructor / Research Scholar

Nicholas T. Lam, PhD

Instructor / Research Scholar

Visiting Scholars

Jorge Peña Peña

Fulbright Visiting Scholar (Spain)

Postdoctoral Fellows

Ahmed Elghamry, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Sailu Sarvagalla, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Research Staff

Alonso Gonzalo Gancedo

Research Associate

Yana Roka-Moiia, PhD, MBA

Senior Research Specialist

Hamed Waleed El-Feky

Research Technician II