Andrew Braun

Professor

Medicine

BSc

University of Saskatchewan, 1983

PhD

University of Saskatchewan, 1988

Contact information

Phone

Office: 403.220.2815

Courses

Classroom Lecturer/Facilitator, Pharmacology of Organ Systems, MDSC 503, Winter semester
Course co-coordinator and Lecturer, Principles in Pharmacology, MDSC 621.01, Fall semester
Classroom Lecturer, Ion Channel Diseases, MDSC 751.09, Winter semester


Research and teaching

Research areas

  • Endothelial dysfunction
  • Resistance artery
  • Microcirculation
  • Blood pressure regulation
  • Calcium-activated K+ channels,
  • Myogenic tone

Biography

My undergraduate education sparked an intense curiosity/interest in biomedical research, particularly in the areas of cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology. Following completion of my doctorate, I pursued training in cardiac electrophysiology at the Univ. of Calgary, which allowed me to investigate the electrical activity of individual cells in the heart, and how these events contributed to contraction and arrhythmogenesis. Subsequently, I undertook additional training at Stanford University Medical School in California, where I carried out experimental studies examining how individual ion channel proteins in the cell membrane responsible for cell excitability are regulated by important cellular pathways and hormones. As a result of this training and associated research activity, I was recruited back to the Univ. of Calgary as an Alberta Heritage Foundation scholar to establish an independent research program as an assistant professor. Since then, my research activities have been supported by the CIHR, NSERC, The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Alberta Diabetes Institute. Driven by our discovery-based research, we have recently developed a novel therapeutic approach that is predicted to lessen the severity and extent of cardiovascular complications associated with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) by reversing the vascular dysfunction typically observed in these patients. This proof-of-concept study is now nearing completion.


Publications

PubMed 


Awards

- Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Graduate Science Education, University of Calgary, 2006
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholarship, 2002-2007
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scholarship and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Research Scholarship, 1997-2002
- Moffat Scholar, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 1997-1998
- American Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Fellowship, 1992-1994
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Fellowship, 1998-1991
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Fellowship, 1998-1990
- Medical Research Council of Canada Studentship, 1985-1988