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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.
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
POSITIONS ANDÂ HONORS
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
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.