Profiling of the Renin-Angiotensin System to Predict Outcomes in Critical Illness

Professor of Surgery

Dr. Chappell is a professor in the Department of Surgery, Section on Hypertension and Vascular Disease Center with over four decades of research experience in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). His pioneering work has significantly advanced the understanding of the non-classical RAAS, particularly the ACE2–Angiotensin-(1-7)–Mas receptor axis. Dr. Chappell’s investigations have elucidated the diverse enzymatic pathways involved in the generation and metabolism of angiotensin peptides, and have distinguished the roles of circulating, tissue-specific, and intracellular RAAS components.  His research has contributed to a paradigm shift in cardiovascular and renal physiology, highlighting the protective functions of the alternative RAAS in contrast to the classical pathway. Currently, Dr. Chappell serves as Co-Principal Investigator on two NIH R01-funded studies that examine the interplay between classical and alternative RAAS in the pathophysiology of septic shock, and another exploring their roles in the cardiovascular consequences of premature birth.  

Professor and Head of the Section of Surgery/Hypertension, Director of Hypertension and Vascular Research, and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Sciences Center

Dr. Diz serves as Head of the Section of Surgery/Hypertension, Director of Hypertension and Vascular Research, and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Sciences Center and is a basic and translational science pharmacologist.  Her research expertise on the renin-angiotensin system and renal nerves relevant to blood pressure regulation focuses on neural and neuroendocrine control of the cardiovascular system and the dysregulation in cardiometabolic disorders associated with hypertension, fetal programming and aging.   She is dedicated to research training and professional development, particularly for team science aligned with clinical departments, and mentoring early career stage faculty.  At WFUSM, she served as Chair, P and T Committee, Leader, Mentor Academy and Chair, Research Mentoring and Career Development Council for Atrium Health integration.  National leadership includes; journal editorial roles; Chair, American Heart Association boards and committees; Chair, Cardiovascular Pharmacology Division, American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; and alumna of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program.

Section Chief, Professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunologic Diseases

Dr. Files is a Professor of Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Co-Director, Critical Illness Injury and Recovery Research Center (CIIRRC), Section Head, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunology, Internal Medicine. He is pulmonary and critical care physician-scientist with a focus on severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sepsis. His interests are in translational research and clinical trials in critically ill patients. 

Associate Professor of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery

Dr. Goldman is an associate professor of surgery in the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery.  He has a robust clinical practice in vascular surgery treating a broad spectrum of vascular pathology.  He also serves as the director of the limb preservation service at Wake Forest Baptist hospital.  Dr. Goldman has an extensive research portfolio and currently is a national principal investigator on the multi-institutional, NIH-funded, AV ACCESS trial and co-investigator on several NIH-funded grants evaluating mechanisms and outcomes in peripheral artery disease. 

Executive Vice Char Department of Surgery, Division Chief Acute Care Surgery, Trauma Medical Director Wake Forest Baptist Hospital

Dr. Hoth is serves as the Executive Vice Chair for the Department of Surgery and Division Chief for Acute Care Surgery. He has been the trauma medical director for the level 1 trauma center at Wake Forest Baptist hospital for 12 years. His research interests center on traumatic injury and included traumatic lung injury/ brain injury, and massive transfusion. He has current and a history of NIH funding evaluating the use of whole blood in trauma resuscitation (TROOP), the use of prothrombin complex concentrate after trauma (TAP), and innate immune priming. 

Assistant Professor, Assistant Program Director (CT Surgery Fellowship)

Dr. Imielski is an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Assistant Program Director for CT Surgery Fellowship. His research interests span translational research on post-cardiotomy vasoplegia as it relates to disturbances in the RAAS system, as well as clinical outcomes research in the field of CT surgery. We have been fortunate to receive funding from the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute as well as the Heinemen Robicsek Foundation. 

Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery 

Dr. Johnston is Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Dr. Johnston received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and medical degree from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He completed residences between the Louisiana State University School of Medicine and Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his Complex General Surgical Oncology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University where he also earned a Masters in Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and a certificate in Patient Safety and Quality through the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Dr. Johnston is R01 funded via both the NCI and NIMHD and as a co-investigator on multiple PCORI awards. He has authored over 250 publications and 15 book chapters. Dr. Johnston’s research interests include utilization of highly innovative and novel strategies for the implementation of patient-centered models of care to improve utilization of palliative care amongst patients with advanced gastrointestinal malignancies. Through this he hopes to advance effective care to lessen suffering in vulnerable oncology patients and families, while simultaneously leading improvement of health care quality, costs, experiences and outcomes. 

Professor, Vice Chair of Research (Anesthesiology)

Dr.  Khanna is professor of anesthesiology and vice-chair of research with the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Critical Care Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC. His research interests include wearable monitoring, use of large datasets for perioperative and critical care outcomes research, RAAS dysfunction in critically ill patients and use of novel vasopressors in shock states in the ICU. Dr. Khanna has more than 250 peer reviewed papers (h-index 47), two dozen book chapters, editorials, invited non-peer reviewed articles, and has been invited to talk about this work at prestigious national and international forums. He chairs the ASA committee on critical care medicine and is on the board of directors for the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA) and the American Society for Enhanced Recovery and Perioperative Medicine (ASER-PM). He has been awarded funding by FAER, NIH/NCATS KL2, NIH/NHLBI, Wake Forest intramural CTSI and several industry and foundation grants.  

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Section on Hypertension, Hypertension and Vascular Research Center

Dr. Schaich is an Assistant Professor and translational scientist in the Department of Surgery, Section on Hypertension, Hypertension and Vascular Research Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Originally trained in basic science, his multidisciplinary expertise now spans renin-angiotensin system (RAS) physiology, cardiovascular epidemiology, and biostatistics. Dr. Schaich is currently lead biostatistician for two R01-funded clinical trials and has received F32, R03, and K01 funding from the NIH as Principal Investigator, in addition to intramural CTSI support. His research interests include RAS dysfunction in critical illness, the vascular contributions to age-related cognitive decline, mechanisms of glucose control, and clinical trial and cohort study design. His work has received award recognition from the American Heart Association and Alzheimer’s Association, and he was recently appointed to standing membership in the NIH Career Development for Established Investigators and Conference Grants (AGCD-4) study section. 

Assistant Professor, Associate Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships

Dr. Stettler serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Acute Care Surgery and is the Associate Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery Fellowships.  He has an extensive research portfolio in trauma-induced coagulopathy and more recently began investigating the effects of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activation following severe injury.  Dr. Stettler is Principal Investigator of a CVSC pilot grant evaluating RAAS activation following trauma related hemorrhagic shock.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, Association for Academic Surgery, and American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.  He also serves as a reviewer for Journal of Surgical Case Reports, Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open, and Journal of Surgical Research.

Assistant Professor Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Immunologic Diseases

Dr. Krall is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Immunologic Diseases at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is a translational physician-scientist with research focus on cellular and molecular pathways of critical care recovery with a particular interest in the role of inflammation, extracellular vesicles and microRNA. She is currently the primary investigator on a Wake Forest University Pepper Center Pilot Award. She serves as the assistant program director for the pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship with focus on fellows’ research development and as a faculty mentor for the T32-funded Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology training program.