Ricardo Peña Silva successfully passed his Ph.D. examination on Thursday, May 31, 2012. His thesis title was "Cardiovascular Oxidative Stress: Recent Findings on ACE2 and MAO". Members of his thesis committee were chair, Don Heistad from the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology; Curt Sigmund from the Departments of Pharmacology, Internal Medicine, and Molecular Physiology & Biophysics; Frank Faraci from the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology; Donna Hammond from the Departments of Anesthesia and Pharmacology and Steven Lentz from the Department of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Peña Silva’s research focused on mechanisms of oxidative stress in heart valve disease. He also explored the role of the angiotensin converting enzyme type 2 and oxidative stress in cerebrovascular dysfunction during aging. Dr. Peña Silva received his M.D. in Medicine and Diploma in Medical Education from the Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogota, Colombia and began in the Pharmacology Ph.D. Program at Iowa in 2006. During research in Dr. Heistad's laboratory, Dr. Peña Silva, received a three-year Fulbright Scholarship, based on his outstanding academic merit and leadership potential, and a three-year American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. Future plans are to start a postdoctoral position at the University of Iowa with Drs. David Hasan and Don Heistad, where he will study mechanisms of cerebrovascular dysfunction and pathophysiology of cerebral aneurysms in Mas and ACE2 deficient mice. He then plans to return to a faculty position in Bogota in early 2013.

Congratulations to Dr. Peña Silva!