Principle Investigator

Dr. Jason Karch was born and raised in Pasadena, California. He received his undergraduate degree from Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota. In 2012, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati in Cancer and Cell Biology under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffery Molkentin. He continued his work with Dr. Molkentin as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2019, Dr. Karch started his lab at Baylor College of Medicine within the Department of Integrative Physiology in Houston, TX. Dr. Karch's research focuses on the cell death pathways that engage during myocardial infarctions. A major component of these pathways is mitochondrial dysfunction via the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. The overall goal of his research program is to better understand the cell death pathways in order to therapeutically inhibit them to preserve cardiomyocyte viability and cardiac function following an ischemic event.