Following the initial discovery of human endothelial outgrowth cells our lab became interested in determining the relationship between these endothelial outgrowth cells and human vascular disease. We have shown that endothelial progenitors have a unique surface integrin profile which allow these cells to attach to specific extracellular matrix proteins and that these cells are phenotypically distinct from smooth muscle progenitor.s Moreover we have demonstrated that EOC are reduced in the presence of vascular disease and that recipient endothelial cells are intimately involved in the biology of transplant vasculopathy in human subjects.

We use state of the art murine, chimeric, vascular injury and molecular models to test hypotheses relating to vascular progenitor homing, engraftment, and differentiation. Moreover we use regulatable transgenesis to address questions relating to lineage, promoter activation, and morphogenesis of vascular progenitor cells.