Dr. Gundry to lead heart and cardiovascular research center

Rebekah Gundry, PhD, has been named permanent director of the UNMC Center for Heart and Cardiovascular Research, following the unanimous recommendation of the members of the center’s internal advisory board. Dr. Gundry had been serving as the center’s interim director since July 1.

The center, established in 2019, strives to bring together multidisciplinary scientists from across departments, colleges, and universities within Nebraska to synergistically facilitate collaborative translational and clinical research that develops the team into an innovative and leading heart and vascular research center and improves the cardiovascular health of the community.

Dr. Gundry replaces Merry Lindsey, PhD, recent director of the center, who departed UNMC for a leadership position at another institution. Dr. Lindsey was also chair of the UNMC Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, and Dr. Gundry currently serves as interim department chair.

UNMC College of Medicine Dean Bradley Britigan, MD, was effusive in his praise of the center’s new leader: “Dr. Gundry is an exceptional researcher, teacher and leader,” he said. “I look forward to working with her and to the continued growth and success of the center.”

Dr. Gundry is professor and assistant chief for basic and translational research in the UNMC Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the director of the CardiOmics Program, an initiative within the Center for Heart and Vascular Research. An internationally recognized researcher, she was named a UNMC Distinguished Scientist in 2021 for her research work involving diseases of the heart. Dr. Gundry is an associate editor of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, the official journal of the International Society for Heart Research and has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Gundry also is one of only a few scientists nationwide, and the first at UNMC, to receive an NHLBI Emerging Investigator Award, which requires applicants to be principal investigator on two active R01-equivalent awards at the time of application.

“I am excited to step into this leadership role,” Dr. Gundry said. “The recently established Center for Heart and Vascular Research is poised to become a nationally recognized hub for catalyzing cutting-edge cardiovascular research. I am eager to continue working with my basic science and clinical colleagues to ensure the center meets its charge.”