The Lundquist Institute

10/20/2026

Pregnancy is hard work for the heart. For most women, the heart handles the strain just fine. But for some, the heart muscle suddenly becomes weak around the time of childbirth, leading to a condition known as peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM).

Affecting roughly 1 in every 2,200 births in the US, PPCM can be life-threatening, and currently, there is no medicine made specifically to treat it.

At The Lundquist Institute, Investigator Michelle L. Matter, PhD, and her team are searching for answers in our genes. Through the PERCVD Trial, in partnership with Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, researchers are studying genetic changes that might explain why some women's hearts struggle during pregnancy.

Discover how Dr. Matter's research could help more mothers stay healthy: https://lundquist.org/news/when-pregnancy-strains-the-heart-searching-our-dna-for-answers-on-heart-failure/

10/16/2026

What might we be missing by looking only once?🔬

Most medical tests are snapshots. A single blood draw captures what's happening in the body over a short period of time, but diseases like type 2 diabetes develop slowly, over years.

A new study led by Dr. Jerome I. Rotter and colleagues at The Lundquist Institute reveals that tracking the same people over time can uncover far more about diabetes than a one-time test.

By studying thousands of adults over roughly 16 years, researchers identified up to four times as many protein links to diabetes when tracking changes over time compared to a single snapshot.

Learn how these findings could one day help doctors spot rising risk earlier and offer promising starting points for new therapies: https://bit.ly/4jJ8M4V

10/15/2026

Questions > Discovery > Better Care.

Great discoveries start with great questions. And some of the most important research questions come from the people we serve.

At The Lundquist Institute, patients and communities help shape the direction of our research, connecting scientific curiosity with real-world health needs.

Join the conversation at our next Science and Your Health event on November 19 with Dr. Pam Lee.

More details here: https://lundquist.org/event/science-and-your-health-with-pam-lee-md/

10/13/2026

We're excited to partner with LMU Seaver College for an inspiring conversation on the power of biomedical research to transform patient care.

Join our President and CEO Joe W. Ramos, PhD, alongside leading investigators Denise Al Alam, PhD, and Ashraf Ibrahim, PhD, this Thursday, October 15 as they explore how collaboration across scientific disciplines is driving innovation, tackling complex health challenges, and opening new possibilities for the future of medicine.

🔗 Learn more and RSVP: https://lnkd.in/dJEeAE2M

🔬 From groundbreaking lab discoveries to life-changing care 🩺

Discover the research. Explore the possibilities. See how science changes lives.

Join us for Seaver Spotlight featuring The Lundquist Institute to explore the science shaping the future of healthcare.

📍10/15 @ 5:00pm in the LSB Auditorium

RSVP: cse.lmu.edu/spotlight/

10/08/2026

We're proud to share that The Lundquist Institute received an award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity to host "Addressing Emerging Challenges in Research Integrity," a conference helping Southern California research institutions tackle AI, data integrity, and research security together. Led by Rosemary Madnick, MBA.

Details coming soon!

10/08/2026

What does it take to turn scientific discovery into meaningful advances in patient care? 🔬

We're bringing the conversation to Loyola Marymount University!

Join our President and CEO Joe W Ramos, PhD, and leading investigators Denise Al Alam, PhD, and Ashraf Ibrahim, PhD, for Seaver Spotlight as they share insights on biomedical innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the future of health sciences.

Thank you to LMU Seaver College for bringing together scientific leaders and the next generation of innovators!

📅 Thursday, October 15 at 5:00pm PT
🔗 RSVP: https://lnkd.in/dJEeAE2M

10/06/2026

Why do we discover?

For The Lundquist Institute President and CEO Joe W. Ramos, PhD, it begins with curiosity. But what we do with that curiosity is what gives discovery purpose.

In his recent Science and Your Health lecture, “Why We Discover,” Dr. Ramos shares the personal journey that shaped him as a scientist and his vision for turning discovery into meaningful impact.

Get a glimpse of his answer in this clip, then watch the full lecture in our Virtual Innovation Library: Lundquist.org/virtual-innovation-library/

10/05/2026

What if preventing asthma could begin before a child takes their very first breath? 🫁

At The Lundquist Institute, Virender S. Rehan, MD, is investigating how ni****ne va**ng during pregnancy may affect developing lungs and increase the risk of childhood asthma. And, importantly, whether that damage can be prevented.

Backed by a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Dr. Rehan’s latest research builds on nearly two decades of work exploring how early-life exposures can shape lung health for years and even generations to come.

"Once the lungs are affected during the developing period, that basically sets the trajectory of the lung function for our whole life," Dr. Rehan explains.

Read more about Dr. Rehan’s research below.

For many children, asthma begins long before their first breath. Virender S. Rehan, MD, a neonatologist and investigator at The Lundquist Institute, is dedicated to understanding the mechanisms in which this occurs and how to prevent it. Dr. Rehan’s work rests on a simple but powerful idea: the l...

09/25/2026

Happy International Research Administrators Day!

Today, we recognize the dedicated professionals who work behind the scenes to help research move forward with integrity, responsibility, efficiency, and extraordinary attention to detail.

To our Research Administrators across The Lundquist Institute: thank you. Your expertise, persistence, and partnership are essential at every stage of the research process—from advancing proposals and awards and navigating regulatory requirements to coordinating resources, supporting clinical trials, and solving challenges along the way.

We also recognize our investigators who work closely with our research administration teams. Strong research depends on strong partnerships. These collaborations allow us to stay focused on what matters most: advancing biomedical science and improving health outcomes for our communities and beyond.

Please join us in celebrating our Research Administrators and thanking them for everything they do to make discovery possible.

09/23/2026

Four Innovation Hubs. Eight leaders. One shared vision for advancing human health. 🔬🧪🧬

Over the past several weeks, we've introduced the Executive Directors leading The Lundquist Institute's four Research Innovation Hubs—bringing together researchers, clinicians, and innovators across disciplines to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in human health.

Through conversations with each of our Hub leaders, we explored the experiences that shaped their work, the challenges they're working to solve, and their vision for turning scientific discovery into meaningful impact. Meet the leaders behind our four Research Innovation Hubs:

Advanced Therapeutics & Biomedical Technologies: bit.ly/4xHbM5l

Infectious Diseases & Immunology: bit.ly/3TgoiKU

Systems Medicine & Precision Prevention: bit.ly/3UYMAcV

Translational Science & Population Health: bit.ly/4AESsIG