Martin M. LeWinter MD, FACC

Education:

Training:

Residency

Fellowship

Specialty:

Certifications:

Academic Appointments:

Biography:

Dr. LeWinter was Director of the Cardiology Unit at the University of Vermont College of Medicine for more than 15 years and is currently the Director of the Heart Failure Program. In addition to his academic and clinic duties, he has served also on many hospital administrative and service committees as well as the Board of Directors of Fletcher Allen Health Care. He is an Associate Editor for the journal Coronary Artery Disease and serves on the Editorial Board of several cardiology journals. Dr. LeWinter has won prestigious awards for research and clinical investigation, served in senior positions with the New England Cardiovascular Society, won a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, and has been named repeatedly one of the “Best Doctors in the U.S.” He has led many multi-year research studies, including two designed to elucidate mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy and authored numerous book chapters as well as invited and original articles. Dr. LeWinter’s extensive experience and expertise make him a widely sought lecturer and visiting professor. He and his wife Barbara live in Williston and have three grown children.

Major Research Interests:

Dr. LeWinter has a longstanding interest in myocardial function. Current areas of interest include mechanoenergetics of the myocardium in acquired heart failure and genetic models of cardiomyopathy. A primary goal of his research is to use whole heart mechanoenergetic, skinned strip and in vitro motility and force analyses to provide a comprehensive understanding of abnormalities of the myofilament in disease. A second area of interest is diastolic left ventricular function and in particular the role of the giant cytoskeleton protein titin as a determinant of left ventricular stiffness and restoring forces. A third area of interest is the effect of diabetes on myocardial function, calcium handling, and the myofilament function. These studies utilize samples of human myocardium obtained in the operating room. Dr. LeWinter is also the Principal Investigator of a grant designating the University of Vermont as one of seven NIH funded Regional Clinical Centers for heart failure research.

Major Current Grants

Separate NIH RO1 grants currently support each of these areas, as does a collaborative grant with Dr. David Maughan.

Publications:

Representative Publications From A Total of 185

Taylor DG, Parilak LD, LeWinter MM, Knot HJ: Quantification of the rat left ventricle force and Ca2+-frequency relationships: Similarities to dog and human. Cardiovasc Res 61:77-86, 2004.

Palmer BM, Noguchi T, Wang Y, Heim JR, Alpert NR, Burgon PG, Seidman CE, Seidman JG, Maughan DW, LeWinter MM: The effect of cardiac myosin binding protein C on mechanoenergetics in mouse myocardium. Circ Res 94:1615-1622, 2004

Noguchi T, Hunlich M, Begin K, LeWinter MM, VanBuren P: Altered thin filament activation of in vitro motility and force in failing human myocardium. Circulation 110: 982-987, 2004.

Mulieri L, Tischler M, Leavitt B, Ittleman F, Alpert NR, LeWinter MM: Differences in freewall and papillary muscle contractile reserve in patients with chronic mitral regurgitation and their relationship to ventricular geometry. Am J Physiol 288:H2185-91, 2005.

Toth M, Mathews DE, Ades PA, Tischler MD, VanBuren P, Previs M, LeWinter M: Skeletal muscle myofibrillar protein metabolism in heart failure: Relationship to immune activation and functional capacity. Am J Physiol 288:E685-92, 2005.

Fukagawa NK, Palmer BM, Barnes WD, Leavitt BJ, Ittleman FY, LeWinter MM, Mulieri LA, Maughan DW: Actomyosin crossbridge kinetics in humans with coronary artery disease: Influence of sex and diabetes mellitus. J Mol Cell Cardiol 39:743-53, 2005.

Toth MJ, Galbraith IC, Palmer BM, LeWinter MM: Effects of heart failure on skeletal muscle myofibrillar protein content, isoform expression and calcium sensitivity.  Int J Cardiol 107:211-9, 2006

Palmer BM, Maughan DW, Hendley E, LeWinter MM: Influence of hyperactivity and/or hypertension on cardiomyocyte function in genetic models of LV hypertrophy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 290:H463-73, 2006.

Zile MR, LeWinter MM:  Left ventricular end-diastolic volume is normal in patients with heart faiure and a normal ejection fraction: A renewed consensus indiastolic heart failure.  J Am Coll Cardiol 49:982-985, 2007.

LeWinter MM, Wu Y, Labeit S, Granzier H:  Cardiac titin:  Structure, functions and role in disease.  Clin Chim Acta 375:1-9, 2007.