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LOUIS MAXIMILIAN BUJA

Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Dr. Buja is a physician-scientist who is internationally recognized for his expertise cardiovascular pathology
and his research work on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. He has held faculty positions at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (1974-1989) and the McGovern Medical School of The
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) (1989 to present). He has served in
administrative and leadership positions while pursuing academic and research activities. He has received
peer-reviewed funding for his research from the NIH and other agencies. Dr. Buja has published over 500
research articles and book chapters, three atlases of pathology and a textbook of cardiovascular pathology.
Dr. Buja scientific career has focused on experimental pathology and clinicopathological correlation. This has
included extensive work on the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemic and hypoxic injury.

Home: About

EDUCATION & TRAINING

June 1964

BS, BIOLOGY

June, 1967

MD, MEDICINE

June, 1968

MS, ANATOMY

June, 1968

MEDICAL INTERN

June, 1970

STAFF ASSOCIATE, CV
PATHOLOGY, NHLI

Loyola University, New Orleans, LA

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Charity Hospital, New Orleans, LA

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

June, 1972

LABORATORY OF
PATHOLOGY, NCI

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

June, 1974

SENIOR INVESTIGATOR, CV
PATHOLOGY, NHLI

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Education

POSITIONS AND HONORS

Positions

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENT

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY

1977 - 1981

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas,
Dallas, TX

PROFESSOR,
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY

1981 - 1989

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX

PROFESSOR,
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE

1989

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,
Houston, TX

MEMBER,
PROFESSIONAL STAFF

1989

Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX

CHAIRMAN,
DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY AND LABORATORY MEDICINE

1989 - 1996

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,
Houston, TX

DEAN,
MEDICAL SCHOOL

1996 - 2003

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,
Houston, TX

CHIEF,
CARDIOVASCULAR PATHOLOGY RESEARCH

2000 - Current

Texas Heart Institute
Houston, TX

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

2003 - 2009

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Houston, TX

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
HOUSTON ACADEMY OF MEDICINE

2009 - 2016

Texas Medical Center Library, Houston, TX

OTHER EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

1969

MEMBER, FELLOW, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE (AAAS)

1974

MEMBER, UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN ACADEMY OF PATHOLOGY (USCAP)

1975

MEMBER, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INVESTIGATIVE PATHOLOGY (ASIP)

1983

MEMBER, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CLINICAL INVESTIGATION (ASCI)

1986

MEMBER AND FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HEART RESEARCH (ISHR)

HONORS

CHANCELLOR'S HEALTH FELLOW IN EDUCATION,

The University of Texas System

2004

GEORGE T. CALDWELL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Texas Society of Pathologists

2005

DISTINGUISHED TEACHING PROFESSOR

The University of Texas System

2007

OUTSTANDING ALUMNUS AWARD

Tulane Medical Alumni Association

2008

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Society for Cardiovascular Pathology

2009

PRESIDENT'S SCHOLAR AWARD FOR TEACHING

Item SubtitleThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

2014

50TH ANNIVERSARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Tulane Medical School Class of 1967

2017

CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

Dr. Buja is a physician-scientist with research interests in cell injury and cardiovascular pathology. He is an author of 490 publications in ORCID. He has produced a substantial cumulative body of work, resulting in 19,397 citations, h-index 74, RG score 50.66 – ResearchGate Data

Contributions

HE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO BASIC AND APPLIED WORK IN THE FIELD OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Clubb FJ, Cerny JL, Deferrari DA, Butler-Aucoin MM, Willerson JT, Buja LM.  Development of atherosclerotic plaque with endothelial disruption in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit aortas. Cardiovasc Pathol. 2001;10(1):1-11.  PMID:  11343989

Aboshady I, Cody DD, Johnson EM, Gahremanpour A, Vela D, Khalil KG, DuPont HL, Willerson JT, Buja LM, Gladish CW. Flat-panel versus 64-channel computed tomography for in vivo quantitative characterization of aortic atherosclerotic plaques. Int J Cardiol. 2012;156(3):295-302.  PMCID:  PMC3074048

Jo JA, Park J, Pande P, Shrestha S, Serafino MJ, Rico Jimenez Jde J, Clubb F, Walton B, Buja LM, Phipps JE, Feldman MD, Adame J, Applegate BE. Simultaneous morphological and biochemical endogenous optical imaging of atherosclerosis. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 Aug;16(8):910-8. PMCID:  PMC4592321

Phipps JE, Hoyt T, Vela D, Wang T, Michalek JE, Buja LM, Jang IK, Milner TE, Feldman MD. Diagnosis of thin-capped fibroatheromas in intravascular optical coherence tomography images: effects of light scattering.  Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2016;9(7):e003163.  PMCID:  PMC4946571

HE HAS PUBLISHED CLINICOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATIONS WITH INSIGHTS INTO ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE AND CARDIOMYOPATHIES

Roberts WC, Ferrans UJ, Buja LM. Pathologic aspects of the idiopathic cardiomyopathies. Adv Cardiol. 1974;13:349-67. Review. PMID: 4281278

Buja LM, Entman ML. Modes of myocardial cell injury and cell death in ischemic heart disease. Circulation. 1998 Oct 6;98(14):1355-7. PMID: 9760287

Buja LM. Modulation of the myocardial response to ischemia. Lab Invest. 1998 Nov;78(11):1345-73. Review. PMID: 9840611

Bick RJ, Bagwell SH, Jones CE, Poindexter BJ, Buja LM, Youker KA, Grigore A, Clubb F, Radovancevic B, Frazier OH. Fluorescence imaging microscopy of cellular markers in ischemic vs non-ischemic cardiomyopathy after left ventricular unloading. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2005 Apr;24(4):454-61. PMID: 15797748

HIS WORK WITH THE HEART FAILURE AND AORTIC DISEASES GROUPS ARE REFLECTED BY THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS

Ottaviani G, Radovancevic R, Kar B, Gregoric I, Buja LM.  Pathological assessment of end-stage heart    failure in explanted hearts in correlation with hemodynamics in patients undergoing orthotopic heart transplantation.  Cardiovasc Pathol  2015:24(5):283-289. PMID: 26129629

Regalado ES, Guo DC, Estrera AL, Buja LM, Milewicz DM. Acute aortic dissections with pregnancy in    women with ACTA2 mutations. Am J Med Genet A. 2014 Jan;164A(1):106-12 PMID:24243736

He R, Guo DC, Sun W, Papke CL, Duraisamy S, Estrera AL, Safi HJ, Ahn C, Buja LM, Arnett FC, Zhang J, Geng YJ, Milewicz DM. Characterization of the inflammatory cells in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms in patients with Marfan syndrome, familial thoracic aortic aneurysms, and sporadic aneurysms.  J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2008 Oct;136(4):922-9. PMID:18954631

HIS MORE BASIC WORK HAS PROVIDED INSIGHTS INTO THE PATHOGENESIS OF MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIC AND TOXIC CELL INJURY

Buja LM, Weerasinghe P. Unresolved issues in myocardial reperfusion injury. Cardiovasc Pathol. 2010;19(1):29-35.  PMID:  19026571

Weerasinghe P, Buja LM. Oncosis: an important non-apoptotic mode of cell death. Exp Mol Pathol. 2012;93(3):302-8.  PMID:  23036471

Buja LM. The pathobiology of acute coronary syndromes: clinical implications and central role of the mitochondria. Tex Heart Inst J. 2013;40(3):221-8.  PMCID:  PMC3709209

Buja LM, Vela D. Cardiomyocyte death and renewal in the normal and diseased heart.  Cardiovasc Pathol 2008:17(6):349-74.  PMID:  18402842

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Dr. Buja has published over 500 scientific articles and book factors resulting in over 19,000 citations. He has h index of 75.

Research
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