Kunhua Song, PhD, FAHA, associate professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, and principal investigator at the Kunhua Song Lab at the USF Health Heart Institute Center for Regenerative Medicine.
Kunhua Song, PhD, FAHA, associate professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Election to the AHA is prestigious distinction that recognizes scientific and professional accomplishment and contributions, volunteer leadership and service in support of the AHA mission of driving solutions for a world of longer, healthier lives.
Dr. Song, who joined USF Health in August 2023, serves as the principal investigator at the Kunhua Song Lab at the USF Health Heart Institute Center for Regenerative Medicine (CRM), researching the mechanisms governing lineage commitment and the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Understanding those mechanisms sets the foundation for developing therapeutic strategies for heart disease, and his goal is to build a mechanism-driven drug discovery pipeline to develop novel therapeutics for treating cardiovascular disease.
Da-Zhi Wang, PhD, professor of internal medicine and director of the CRM, said Dr. Song has been a valued asset to USF Health since they day he arrived, and looks forward to what he and his team will accomplish in the future.
“We are excited and lucky to have recruited such a leading figure in cardiac research and medicine to USF,” said Dr. Wang. “Dr. Song’s election to the FAHA is a recognition of his exceptional achievements. I look forward to seeing how his breakthrough work will help the Heart Institute and CRM to become a national recognized center for cardiovascular research and medicine, which will eventually benefic patients with cardiovascular disease.”
For Dr. Song, his election to the AHA is just one more step toward his larger goal of improving long-term patient care.
"This milestone encourages me to continue to work with peers in the field and serve the scientific community,” Dr. Song said. “Our biggest milestone will be when we discover therapies that better treat heart and cardiovascular disease.”