A pioneer in the field of cardiovascular biology, Michael Simons serves as the founder of the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center and as the Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at the Yale School of Medicine. Over the years, Michael Simons has earned numerous awards for his work and was named a pilot grant finalist for the 2017 Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale.Available to Yale faculty, the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation supports innovative research in the life sciences sector. The fund was created to help faculty members obtain funding for their early-stage validation and proof-of-concept studies. Through the fund, faculty members can receive business development and financial support as they attempt to validate and advance nascent technologies.Supporting research projects of all sizes, Blavatnik Fund grants are divided into two sections: pilot grants and development grants. Up to $100,000 is awarded in a pilot grant, while up to $300,000 may be given in a development grant.
A widely respected teacher and researcher in the cardiovascular field, Dr. Michael Simons serves as the Yale University School of Medicine’s R.W. Berliner Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology. He additionally serves as a reviewer or editor of more than two dozen peer-reviewed publications, and travels widely as a visiting lecturer. Dr. Michael Simons of Yale has visited China on multiple occasions, and is the recipient of that country’s Distinguished Foreign Expert Award.The City of Shanghai is one of the largest in the world, and one of the most interesting. Shanghai’s Bund is of particular interest to visitors. The famous boulevard is rich in historic associations and offers a stunning backdrop of the Huangpu River along its 1.5-kilometer stretch, as well as many examples of fine architecture.The Bund extends north to south from the Waibaidu Bridge to Jinling Road. The architecture in its vicinity is so varied and distinctive that it has earned the designation World Architectural Fair. Styles represented include Roman, gothic, and baroque. Other structures blend Western with Chinese motifs.The Asia Building mixes baroque with modernist in an imposing multi-story façade. The East Wind Hotel, formerly a popular spot for British expatriates, offers a neo-classical design featuring an entryway staircase fashioned from white marble brought from Sicily.Constructed toward the close of the 19th century, the China Merchants Bank is among the Bund’s oldest structures. The four-story building was created in gothic style with flower-latticed windows, and includes several small steeples on its upper floors.
Dr. Michael Simons received his MD from the Yale University School of Medicine in 1984. Now, he serves as a Professor at Yale, as well as the founding director of the school’s Cardiovascular Research Center. In his personal life, Dr. Michael Simons enjoys attending theatrical productions, particularly of works by the playwright Arthur Miller. Recently, a new documentary illuminating the life of Arthur Miller screened at the Woodstock Film Festival. The creative force behind the film is none other than the playwright’s daughter, Rebecca Miller, an award-winning filmmaker in her own right. Arthur Miller: Writer dives deep into the writer’s personal life and career through never-before-seen footage that includes home movies and interviews. This fresh take on Mr. Miller illuminates a new side of the playwright, one rarely witnessed by the press. Rebecca Miller’s goal was to showcase the good with the bad, giving an accurate portrayal of her father’s origins as an artist, as well as his personal character. The film, which was officially released in September, was produced by HBO Documentary Films. Rebecca Miller has written and directed multiple award-winning feature films, including Personal Velocity, Angela, and The Ballad of Jack and Rose.
A tenured professor at the Yale School of Medicine, Michael Simons, MD, engages as the founding director of the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Respected in his field, Dr. Michael Simons participated in the 14th International Workshop on Scleroderma Research at St. John’s College, Cambridge.A chronic condition, scleroderma involves a hardening of the connective tissue and proteins that make up the tissue. The focus is on the skin’s collagen, with scleroderma having the meaning “hard skin.” The autoimmune response involves the cells overproducing collagen, which in turn prevents the normal functioning of other organs in the body.Known as Raynaud’s phenomenon, primary symptoms include fingers that change color with cold or when emotional stress occurs. Another symptom is that hands and fingers grow puffy and stiff.Dr. Simons counts a collaboration involving Johns Hopkins on angiogenic inhibitors and pulmonary hypertension development among his laboratory’s areas of research. A particular emphasis is on scleroderma patients and the effects of circulating angiogenic inhibitors on the disease’s progress.
Dr. Michael Simons graduated from the Yale School of Medicine with cum laude honors. Over his 30-year career, Dr. Michael Simons has served as a cardiovascular physician, researcher, and instructor.In one of the cancer-related studies Dr. Simons led at Yale, researchers examined mice who had been genetically engineered to lack signaling in a certain family of growth factors (called an FGF) in the lining of their blood vessels. The study demonstrated that the FGF’s trigger the expression of a cancer-related gene called c-Myc. This discovery is important in the field of cancer research because it shows a previously unknown link between growth factors and cell metabolism.The potential applications of these findings appear promising. In the next stage of research, scientists will look for ways to create therapies based on this new knowledge. For instance, researchers may develop and test drugs that block pathways for cancerous growth in vessels, or explore therapies that stimulate growth of beneficial vessels in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Since 2008, Dr. Michael Simons has served as the R.W. Berliner Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at the Yale University School of Medicine. In addition to his more than three decades of experience as a clinician and educator, Dr. Michael Simons of Yale is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in the area of cardiovascular disease. Working with the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American College of Physicians, ABIM will have a major hand in developing a comprehensive certification track that will eventually allow physicians to maintain their certifications with all these groups through one process instead of having to undergo a recertification procedure for each one. While current maintenance standards will stay in place, ABIM says that work is ongoing, even now, to draft an entirely new maintenance of certification (MOC) process to give cardiologists, oncologists, and internists the ability to demonstrate their ongoing adherence to medical standards and knowledge. To learn more about ABIM’s efforts, visit www.abim.org.
A graduate of the Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Michael Simons has spent nearly three decades as a cardiovascular physician, researcher, and educator. A longtime professor at Yale’s medical school, Dr. Michael Simons stays active in the field through membership in professional organizations and holds board certification from a number of groups, including the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).In February 2017, NBME announced a Professional Examination for Health Coaches (PEHC) to help the people of China get better public health care by training health professionals in prevention and wellness to support them outside of hospital environments. The Chinese population is seeing a spike in chronic health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. The PEHC will be administered through a partnership with GRS Academy, the global education platform of Genesis Rehab Services, one of the more well-known providers of wellness services in the United States. The program will train professional health coaches who will, in turn, develop public health programs to help the people of China make life choices to improve their health and overall well-being.
