Robert Scott Kiss, PhD

Heart disease is the most important single cause of death in the western world and will soon become the greatest cause of death in developing countries, as well. Plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL; the so-called ‘good cholesterol’) is inversely correlated with the risk of heart disease. Mechanisms and treatments to increase plasma HDL levels may have a profound beneficial effect on preventing heart disease. In my laboratory, we focus our studies on intracellular cholesterol trafficking pathways and the proteins involved in trafficking or storage of cholesterol. We have discovered a mechanism to promote the removal of cholesterol from engorged macrophages in an effort to alleviate the burden of cholesterol in the arteries. As well, we study how cholesterol is stored inside a cell and how cholesterol is mobilized for removal in HDL.