Steve Goldman Appointed to C. Leonard Pfeiffer Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine

Steve Goldman Appointed to C. Leonard Pfeiffer Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine

By Katie MaassSarver Heart Center
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Dr. Steve Goldman, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, seated in the center, with members of the Goldman-Juneman Lab at the UA Sarver Heart Center.
Dr. Steve Goldman, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, seated in the center, with members of the Goldman-Juneman Lab at the UA Sarver Heart Center.

Dr. Steve Goldman, a highly productive heart research scientist and cardiology professor, has been named to fill the C. Leonard Pfeiffer Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine at the UA Sarver Heart Center. Goldman most recently co-founded Avery Therapeutics, a company that is transferring technology developed in his lab for commercial use in patients.

"Dr. Goldman's commitment to advancing translational research that bridges basic science to clinical care, mentoring young scientists, and educating medical students, residents and fellows makes him an outstanding fit for the Pfeiffer chair," said Dr. Nancy K. Sweitzer, director of the Sarver Heart Center and chief of cardiology.

In 1972, the Pfeiffer endowed chair was the first established at the UA College of Medicine, in memory of C. Leonard Pfeiffer, a UA alumnus who earned his bachelor's degree in 1940 and his master's in 1948. Pfeiffer started his philanthropic support of the UA in 1946 when he established the C. Leonard Pfeiffer Collection of Contemporary American Art at the UA Museum of Art.

The Pfeiffer Research Foundation was established by his uncle and aunt, Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer, in 1942 "to improve public health through the advancement of medicine and pharmacy." In 1972, the foundation presented Dr. Frank Marcus, then chief of cardiology, a check to establish the chair in cardiology. Marcus is now professor emeritus in the College of Medicine – Tucson.

The interest income from the endowment first supported the research program of Dr. Eugene Morkin, who was recruited to the UA in 1974 from Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and Harvard University as the first holder of the C. Leonard Pfeiffer Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine. Morkin retired from the UA in 2007 and died in 2009.

A native of Ohio, Goldman received his undergraduate education at Cornell University and his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His residency training was at the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago and Stanford University. He completed his cardiology training at Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. In 1975, he came to the UA and the Tucson VA Medical Center, where he was chief of cardiology for 35 years.

"Dr. Morkin was a friend, mentor, collaborator and a great tennis partner," Goldman said. "In our work together, Gene did the biochemistry while I did the physiology, a system that worked well for us. Gene not only tried to teach me how to succeed but also how to stay out of trouble in the world of academic medicine."

Goldman said he sees parallels between C. Leonard Pfeiffer and his own life.

"We were both military veterans. He attended the University of Arizona on the GI bill. I was a Navy doc with the Marine Corps in Vietnam and I did my cardiology fellowship on the GI bill."

For the past 40 years, the Goldman laboratory has researched heart failure, its causes, and development of new treatments.

"As a result, we now have a new way to treat HF using cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells," Goldman said.

This research builds on the work of John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka, scientists who were awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for creating induced pluripotent stem cells. The discovery showed that adult cells can be reprogrammed to become stem cells capable of being then differentiated into any specific cell type of interest, no matter what cell type they were when the process started.

"The Nobel Prize work provided us with the technology to create new heart cells and use these cells to treat heart failure," Goldman said. "We have shown that we can effectively treat heart failure in laboratory models of disease by creating a tissue-engineered cardiac graft composed of specialized cells grown on a matrix."

In 2014, Goldman collaborated with Jordan Lancaster, assistant research scientist at the Sarver Heart Center, to co-found a UA biotech spinoff company called Avery Therapeutics to commercialize this work. His research laboratory has received funding from the Sarver Heart Center, Tech Launch Arizona, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission, the biotechnology industry, and private foundations. His laboratory has supported the development of several young investigators.

"The support from the C. Leonard Pfeiffer Chair will allow us to continue our research in regenerative medicine and to support young investigators at the University of Arizona," Goldman said. "We are very proud of the collaborative atmosphere in our laboratory, where senior scientists and young students work side by side, sharing ideas and doing experiments. We have high school students, university undergraduates, medical students, M.D./Ph.D. students, postdoctoral students and professors in the lab. We will use the C. Leonard Pfeiffer funds for their support and the support of new research projects."

A version of this article originally appeared on the UA Sarver Heart Center website.

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