Profile

I am a Professor of Medicine – cardiology at UCLA. My research has been focusing on interactions between the cardiovascular and immune system. As a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University (1992/1993), I carried out gene expression studies of proinflammatory cytokines in the rat heart transplantation model. As the Medical Director of the Interdisciplinary Heart Failure & Transplantation Program at Muenster University (1992-2000), subsequently as Director of Cardiac Transplantation Research at Columbia University (2000-2011), as past Medical Director of the Mechanical Circulatory Support Device Database of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (2001-2006) and Medical Director of the UCLA Advanced Heart Failure/Mechanical Support/Heart Transplant program (2011-2016).

Intersectionality between clinical cardiology and bench-to-bedside translational research is my core position. As PI/ Multiple-PI of continuously since >20 years federally, philanthropy- and industry- funded grants, I co-developed the first diagnostic leukocyte gene expression profiling (GEP) test in transplantation medicine that gained US-FDA-regulatory clearance to rule out rejection without tissue biopsies (AlloMap^TM). Consequently, my lab has developed a GEP-test for improved outcomes in patients with organ dysfunction related to advanced heart failure (MyLeukoMAP^TM) that is currently undergoing commercialization with our startup company LeukoLifeDx Inc. To further develop MyLeukoMAP^TM towards clinical implementation, LeukoLifeDx Inc. was successfully sold in 2023 to the industry leader CareDx Inc. that had launched its first commercial product, AlloMap^TM Heart, in 2005, now used by over 90% of U.S. transplant centers, with me continuing to serve as Consultant for the MyLeukoMAP^TM project. In 2021, my lab was awarded an NIH/NIAID-grant to develop a multi-dimensional immunology algorithm sensitive to the social vulnerability differential between Veterans and civilians to better predict longterm outcomes of COVID-19.

Embedding systems biology within the value framework of basic and universal human rights of equitable access to high–tech care and building on a shared commitment to addressing health disparities, I collaborate with Prof. Federica Raia (UCLA DGSOM and GSEIS) in the “Relational Medicine^TM” project. This includes a collaboration with Horace Mann UCLA Community School and non-profit organizations to develop a Wellness Collaborative for Research & Education Activities to Transform and Empower (WeCREATE), a community-driven program that empowers racial/ethnic under-resourced people who are under-represented in medicine to transform their communities towards social and health justice and a cardiology consultant role in the CMS-funded ToHelpEveryone(THE) Clinic in South Los Angeles.

I have successfully demonstrated the ability to pull together diverse constituencies to create large collaborative research networks, administered these research projects (e.g. staffing, research protection, budget), and produced several peer-reviewed publications from each research project.

With regard to research training and mentoring, I have mentored numerous post-doctoral students, graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school students, several of whom have been successful in academia and have become independent investigators in their chosen field.

Mario Deng MD FACC FESC

Professor of Medicine

Advanced Heart Failure I Mechanical Support I Heart Transplant

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
100 Medical Plaza, Suite 630
Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Email: mdeng@mednet.ucla.edu
Patients: 310.825.8816 Research: 310.825.3035 Fax: 310.825.9013