Deciphering the Genetics of Cardiovascular Disease

The Guo Lab studies the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and cardiac development, using CRISPR screening and editing, single-cell sequencing, human iPSC-derived 2D cardiomyocytes and 3D cardiac organoids, animal studies, and bioinformatics, toward precision medicine for cardiovascular disease.

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Deciphering Variant Pathogenicity

The Guo Lab works to decipher how pathogenic variants — including variants of uncertain significance — cause cardiovascular disease, combining genetics with CRISPR-edited stem-cell models.

About Guo Lab

Our Research

The Guo Lab’s research spans monogenic and polygenic cardiovascular diseases, congenital heart disease, and endogenous retroviruses in heart development and disease.

Monogenic CVDs — Deciphering pathogenic variants in monogenic cardiovascular diseases.

Polygenic CVDs — Including ALDH2/SGLT2i-related endothelial dysfunction.

Congenital Heart Disease — Genetics of congenital heart disease including hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Endogenous Retroviruses — Endogenous retroviruses in heart development and disease, including the lncRNA BANCR.

Featured Publications

Recent publications highlight groundbreaking findings on the genetic mechanisms of heart disease, novel therapeutic approaches for heart failure, and innovative strategies for improving cardiovascular health outcomes.

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Guo HC et al. SGLT2 inhibitor ameliorates endothelial dysfunction associated with the common ALDH2 alcohol flushing variant — Science Translational Medicine, 2023

Guo HC et al. Deciphering pathogenicity of variants of uncertain significance with CRISPR-edited iPSCs — Trends in Genetics, 2021

Endogenous retrovirus-derived lncRNA BANCR promotes cardiomyocyte migration in humans and non-human primates — Developmental Cell, 2020

Guo HC et al. Single-cell RNA sequencing of human embryonic stem cell differentiation delineates adverse effects of nicotine on embryonic development — Stem Cell Reports, 2019

Mentorship and Training

The Guo Lab welcomes applications for postdoctoral fellow, research assistant, and graduate / MD-PhD student positions. To apply, contact Dr. Hongchao Guo at hongchao.guo@hsc.utah.edu.

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Faculty

Hongchao Guo, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Dr. Guo earned his PhD in cell biology from Nankai University in 2015, completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Joseph Wu’s lab at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, and received an NIH K99/R00 award in 2020.

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