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Kurt R. Stenmark, MD

Professor of Pediatrics
 

Section Head, Critical Care Medicine
Director, Developmental Lung Biology and Cardiovascular Pulmonary Research Laboratories

Contact
   Phone: 720-777-1234 (TBD)
   E-mail: (TBD)

Affiliations
Section of Critical Care Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics
Children's Hospital Colorado

Certifications
Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonology

Kurt R. Stenmark, MD, earned his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1977. At the University of Colorado he also completed his pediatric residency training (1980) and a chief residency (1981), as well as his fellowship in pediatric critical care and cardiovascular pulmonary research (1984). Dr. Stenmark joined the faculty of Children's Hospital Colorado and the Department of Pediatrics Section of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1980. He has served as Section Head of Critical Care Medicine since 1987 and was appointed Professor of Pediatrics in 1994.

Dr. Kurt Stenmark is the Director of the Developmental Lung Biology Laboratory at UCSOM. As the principal investigator of a Specialized Centers of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR) grant from the NIH, Dr. Stenmark leads a group investigating the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the response of the developing lung vasculature to hypoxia and other injuries, primarily BPD. Dr. Stenmark also directs a program project grant entitled “Adaptations to Hypoxia” in which a large group of investigators examine the molecular mechanisms through which chronic hypoxia elicits changes in the structure and function of lung blood vessels.

Dr. Stenmark has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Gary Way Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Distinguished Scientific Accomplishments Award from the American Thoracic Society. He is regularly listed in Best Doctors in America and is widely published. He is an editorial board member for several medical journals and a reviewer for many others.

A renowned expert in his field, Dr. Stenmark is a frequently invited speaker and Visiting Professor, both nationally and abroad. He was the featured speaker at the Pulmonary Hypertension International Meeting in Cambridge, England. In addition, his involvement in national and international committees is extensive. He was invited to serve on an expert panel to advise the NIH on future research directives.

  • America's Top Pediatrician, 2009-present
  • Best Doctors in America, 2008-present
  • Vascular Biology Center of Excellence, CU School of Medicine, 2010-2012
  • "Top Fifty Sponsored Program Awards," Anschutz Medical Campus, 2010-2011
  • PAH Novel Targets Advisory Board Meeting, Pfizer, 2011
  • PVD Virtual Lab Advisory Board: Impedance Properties, Pfizer, 2011
  • 5280 Magazine's Top Doctors in Denver, 2007-2009
  • Inaugural Fellow of the Council on Cardiopulmonary, Perioperative and Critical Care, American Heart Association, 2003
  • Ray Krock Visiting Professor, LeBonheur Children's Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, 2003
  • Task Force Member and Speaker on Pathology and Pathobiology of Pulmonary Hypertension: Third World Symposium on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertesion. Venice, Italy, 2003
  • Featured Speaker, Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension International Meeting, Cambridge, England, 2003
  • Research Advisory Committee, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 2003
  • Parent Committee, Program Project Reviews, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 2003
  • Program Committee, Vascular Biology, American Heart Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, 2003

Publications in PubMed

  • Carpenter TC, Dobyns EL, Grayck EN, Mourani PM, Stenmark, KR. Critical care. In: Hay WW Jr, Levin MJ, Sondheimer JM, Deterding RR, editors. Current pediatric diagnosis and treatment. 19th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2009.
  • Majka SM, Skokan M, Wheeler L, Harral J, Gladson S, Burnham E, Loyd JE, Stenmark KR, Varella-Garcia M, West J. Evidence for cell fusion is absent in vascular lesions associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2008 Dec;295(6):L1028-39. [PMID: 18931051]
  • Lammers SR, Kao P, Qi HJ, Hunter K, Lanning C, Albietz J, Hofmeister S, Mecham RP, Stenmark KR, Shandas R. Changes in the structure-function relationship of elastin and its impact on the proximal pulmonary arterial mechanics of hypertensive calves. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008 Oct;295(4):H1451-9. [PMID: 18660454]
  • Nozik-Grayck E, Suliman HB, Majka S, Albietz J, Van Rheen Z, Roush K, Stenmark KR. Lung EC-SOD overexpression attenuates hypoxic induction of Egr-1 and chronic hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2008 Sep;295(3):L422-30. [PMID: 18599502]
  • Stevens T, Phan S, Frid MG, Alvarez D, Herzog E, Stenmark KR. Lung vascular cell heterogeneity: endothelium, smooth muscle and fibroblasts. Proc A. Thorac Soc. 2008 Sep 15;5(7):783-91. [PMID: 18757318]
  • Das M, Burns N, Wilson SJ, Zawada WM, Stenmark KR. Hypoxia exposure induces the emergence of fibroblasts lacking replication repressor signals of PKCzeta in the pulmonary artery adventitia. Cardiovasc Res. 2008 Jun 1;78(3):440-8. [PMID: 18218684]
  • Nozik-Grayck E, Roush KP, Albietz J, Hopkins A, Suliman HB, Stenmark KR. Extracellular superoxide induces egr-1 and promotes hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling. Proc Am Thorac Soc. 2008 Apr;5(3):369. [PMID: 18403357]
  • Carpenter TC, Easley BL, Stenmark KR. The molecular biology of acute lung injury. In: Nichols D, editor. Rogers textbook of pediatric intensive care. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins; 2008.
  • Gerasimovskaya EV, Woodward HN, Tucker DA, Stenmark KR. Extracellular ATP is a pro-angiogenic factor for pulmonary artery vasa vasorum endothelial cells. Angiogenesis. 2008;11(2):169-82. [PMID: 18071915]
  • Stenmark KR, Gerasimovskaya E, Davie NJ, Frid, MG. Mesenchymal-endothelial interactions in the control of angiogenic, inflammatory and fibrotic responses in the pulmonary circulation. In: Voelkel NF, Rounds S, editors. The pulmonary endothelium. London: John Wiley & Sons; 2008.
  • Arciniegas E, Frid MG, Douglas IS, Stenmark KR. Perspectives on endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition: potential contribution to vascular remodeling in chronic pulmonary hypertension. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2007 Jul;293(1):L1-8. [PMID: 17384082]
  • Carpenter TC, Dobyns EL, Grayck EN, Mourani PM, Ferguson, M, Stenmark, KR. Critical care. In: Hay WW Jr, Levin MJ, Sondheimer JM, Deterding RR, editors. Current pediatric diagnosis and treatment. 18th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2007.
  • Crossno JT Jr, Garat CV, Reusch JE, Morris KG, Dempsey EC, McMurtry IF, Stenmark KR, Klemm DJ. Rosiglitazone attenuates hypoxia-induced pulmonary arterial remodeling. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2007 Apr;292(4):L885-97. [PMID: 17189321]
  • Nozik-Grayck E, Stenmark KR. Role of reactive oxygen species in chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and vascular remodeling. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;618:101-12. [PMID: 18269191]
  • Stenmark KR, Fagan KA, Frid MG. Hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling: cellular and molecular mechanisms. Circ Res. 2006 Sep;99(7):675-91. [PMID: 17008597]
  • Davie NJ, Gerasimovskaya EV, Hofmeister SE, Richman AP, Jones PL, Reeves JT, Stenmark KR. Pulmonary artery adventitial fibroblasts cooperate with vasa vasorum endothelial cells to regulate vasa vasorum neovascularization: a process mediated by hypoxia and endothelin-1. Am J Pathol. 2006 Jun;168(6):1793-807. [PMID: 16723696]
  • Short MD, Fox SM, Lam CF, Stenmark KR, Das M. Protein kinase Czeta attenuates hypoxia-induced proliferation of fibroblasts by regulating MAP kinase phosphatase-1 expression. Mol Biol Cell. 2006 Apr;17(4):1995-2008. [PMID: 16467381]
  • Stenmark KR, Davie N, Frid M, Gerasimovskaya E, Das M. Role of the adventitia in pulmonary vascular remodeling. Physiology. 2006 Apr;21:134-45. [PMID: 16565479]
  • Wenzlau JM, Garl PJ, Simpson P, Stenmark KR, West J, Artinger KB, Nemenoff RA, Weiser-Evans MC. Embryonic growth-associated protein is one subunit of a novel N-terminal acetyltransferase complex essential for embryonic vascular development. Circ Res. 2006 Mar;98(6):846-55. [PMID: 16484612]
  • Frid MG, Brunetti JA, Burke DL, Carpenter TC, Davie NJ, Reeves JT, Roedersheimer MT, van Rooijen N, Stenmark KR. Hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling requires recruitment of circulating mesenchymal precursors of a monocyte/macrophage lineage. Am J Pathol. 2006 Feb;168(2):659-69. [PMID: 16436679]
  • Carpenter TC, Schomberg S, Stenmark KR. Endothelin-mediated increases in lung VEGF content promote vascular leak in young rats exposed to viral infection and hypoxia. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2005 Dec;289(6):L1075-82. [PMID: 16040626]
  • Frid MG, Brunetti JA, Burke DL, Carpenter TC, Davie NJ, Stenmark KR. Circulating mononuclear cells with a dual, macrophage-fibroblast phenotype contribute robustly to hypoxia-induced pulmonary adventitial remodeling. Chest. 2005 Dec;128(6 Suppl):583S-584S. [PMID: 16373848]
  • Gerasimovskaya EV, Davie NJ, Ahmad S, Tucker DA, White CW, Stenmark KR. Extracellular adenosine triphosphate: a potential regulator of vasa vasorum neovascularization in hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling. Chest. 2005 Dec;128(6 Suppl):608S-610S. [PMID: 16373860]
  • Short M, Fox S, Stenmark KR, Das M. Hypoxia-induced alterations in protein kinase C zeta signaling result in augmented fibroblast proliferation. Chest. 2005 Dec;128(6 Suppl):582S. [PMID: 16373847]
  • Narkewicz MR, Kasaragod A, Lucia MS, Pflummer S, Sokol RJ, Stenmark KR. Connective tissue growth factor expression is increased in biliary epithelial cells in biliary atresia. J Pediatr Surg. 2005 Nov;40(11):1721-5. [PMID: 16291159]
  • Stenmark KR, Balasubramaniam V. Angiogenic therapy for bronchopulmonary dysplasia: rationale and promise. Circulation. 2005 Oct 18;112(16):2383-5. [PMID: 16230495]
  • Stenmark KR, McMurtry IF. Vascular remodeling versus vasoconstriction in chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension: a time for reappraisal? Circ Res. 2005 Jul 22;97(2):95-8. [PMID: 16037575]
  • Reeves JT, Linehan JH, Stenmark KR. Distensibility of the normal human lung circulation during exercise. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2005 Mar;288(3):L419-25. [PMID: 15695542]
  • Banks MF, Gerasimovskaya EV, Tucker DA, Frid MG, Carpenter TC, Stenmark KR. Egr-1 antisense oligonucleotides inhibit hypoxia-induced proliferation of pulmonary artery adventitial fibroblasts. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Feb;98(2):732-8. [PMID: 15475598]
  • Gerasimovskaya EV, Tucker DA, Stenmark KR. Activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, Akt, and mammalian target of rapamycin is necessary for hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery adventitial fibroblast proliferation. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Feb;98(2):722-31. [PMID: 15501927]
  • Stenmark KR, Davie NJ, Reeves JT, Frid MG. Hypoxia, leukocytes, and the pulmonary circulation. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Feb;98(2):715-21. [PMID: 15649883]
  • Gerasimovskaya EV, Tucker DA, Weiser-Evans M, Wenzlau JM, Klemm DJ, Banks M, Stenmark KR. Extracellular ATP-induced proliferation of adventitial fibroblasts requires phosphoinositide 3-kinase, Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin, and p70 S6 kinase signaling pathways. J Biol Chem. 2005 Jan 21;280(3):1838-48. [PMID: 15522879]
  • Carpenter TC, Dobyns EL, Mateev SN, Mourani PM, Ferguson MA, Stenmark KR. Critical care. In: Hay WW Jr., Hayward AR, Levin ML, Sondheimer JM, Deterding RR, editors. Current pediatric diagnosis and treatment. 17th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2005.
  • Stenmark KR, Abman SH. Lung vascular development: implications for the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Annu Rev Physiol. 2005;67:623-61. [PMID: 15709973]