Michael P. Flaherty, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics
Director, Adult Structural Interventions
Director, Research-Interventional Cardiology
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine

Dr. Flaherty is an interventional cardiologist and clinician-scientist who received his training in percutaneous coronary, structural and peripheral interventions from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He is a co-investigator for the Cardiac Stem Cell Infusion in Patients With Ischemic CardiOmyopathy (SCIPIO) adult cardiac stem cell trial being conducted at UofL in collaboration with Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His current basic science research is focused on molecular and cellular mechanisms of cardiac repair, namely, novel adult stem cell therapies aimed at reconstituting injured myocardium. Dr. Flaherty has developed and patented a method for improving heart function in mice following myocardial infarction that involves injecting bone marrow cells that have undergone Wnt11-induced cardiomyogenic differentiation into the infarcted murine myocardium. In addition, his current clinical research, in collaboration with the CORE 64 investigators from Johns Hopkins University, involves evaluating the accuracy of CT angiography vs. conventional coronary angiography in determining coronary lesion classification and severity.

Dr. Flaherty specializes in advanced percutaneous structural heart repair and is Director of the Adult Structural Interventional Program at UofL. His other primary clinical focus is percutaneous coronary intervention with emphasis on high-risk coronary lesions.

Graduate School: Purdue University and University of Louisville School of Medicine

Medical School: University of Louisville School of Medicine

Residencies: Boston University School of Medicine

Fellowships:
Cardiovascular Disease, University of Louisville
Interventional Cardiology, The Johns Hopkins University

Board Certifications:
Internal Medicine
Cardiovascular Disease
Interventional Cardiology (eligible)

Clinical Specialty: Percutaneous coronary interventions; including high risk procedures requiring percutaneous mechanical support Percutaneous peripheral arterial interventions; Treatment of adult congenital heart disease: patent foramen ovale, atrial septal defects, pulmonic valvular stenosis and patent ductus arteriosus; Percutaneous treatment of valvular stenosis including aortic and mitral and pulmonic stenosis; Alcohol-induced myocardial septal ablation; Adult stem cell therapy for myocardial regeneration

Clinical Research Interests: Translational therapies for cardiovascular disease; Bone marrow and cardiac stem cell therapies for cardiac regeneration; Percutaneous aortic valve replacement; Phenotypic expression of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; Cardiac marker expression in acute coronary syndromes; Mediators of myocardial Ischemic preconditioning

 Selected Publications:

1.  Flaherty MP, Dorfman T. Massive ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Owing To Anomalous Coronary Circulation.  Circulation: Cardiovasc Int. (submitted)
2.  Flaherty MP, Johnston PV, and Rade JJ. Subacute Stent Thrombosis Owing to Complete Clopidogrel Resistance. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2010 (in press)
3.  Flaherty MP, Dawn B and Solankhi NK. Iatrogenic Submedial Coronary Artery Intramural Hematoma Presenting Subacutely. J Invasive Cardiol. 2009 Jul;21(7):E128-31).
4.  Flaherty MP and Dawn B. Noncanonical Wnt11 Signaling and Cardiomygenic Differentiation. Trends In Cardiovasc Med. 2008 Oct;18(7):260-8.
5. Dawn B, Abdel-Latif A, Sanganalmath SK, Flaherty MP, Zuba-Surma EK. Cardiac repair with adult bone marrow-derived cells: The clinical evidence. AntioxidRedox. 2009 Feb 9.
6.  Flaherty MP, Abdel-Latif A, Li Q, Hunt G, Ranjan S, Ou Q, Tang XL, Johnson RK, Bolli R, and Dawn B. Noncanonical Wnt11 Signaling is Sufficient to Induce Cardiomyogenic Differentiation in Unfractionated Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells. Circulation. 2008; 117 (17): 2241-2252.
7.  Flaherty MP, Leesar MA, and Dawn B. Acute Myocardial Infarction in a 19-year-old Female Owing to the Hypercoagulable State of Pregnancy and the Puerperium. J Invasive Cardiol. 2008; 20(9):E262-4.

 For a complete list of publications (link to pubmed. Reference, Flaherty MP)