Jennifer K. Lang MD
Jennifer K. Lang
MD
Associate Professor
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Specialty/Research Focus
Cardiology; Cardiovascular Disease; Cell growth, differentiation and development; Gene Expression; Molecular and Cellular Biology; Signal Transduction; Stem Cells
Contact Information
Patient Care
Patient Care
This faculty member is affiliated with UBMD, practicing physicians who are also professors in the Jacobs School.
View this physician on UBMDProfessional Summary:
As a general cardiologist, I diagnose and treat a wide range of problems that affect the heart and blood vessels, including but not limited to coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, heart failure, diseases of the myocardium and pericardium, cardiac arrhythmias, conduction disorders and syncope.
I care for patients at Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC), the Gates Vascular Institute (GVI), the Buffalo VA Medical Center (VAMC) and am a member of the UBMD clinical practice. In addition to treating pre-existing cardiac conditions, I also believe in strong preventive care and addressing modifiable risk factors for coronary disease. I take time to get to know my patients, and I talk with them about measures they can take to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and improve their health.
As a clinician-scientist, I have a special interest in developing new stem cell based treatments for heart disease. My research is focused on understanding what stem cell secreted factors are responsible for improved heart function, what their targets are and how these can be modulated to develop new cell-free therapies that can help patients with a wide spectrum of coronary disease and heart failure. I welcome medical students, graduate students, residents and fellows to conduct research with me in my lab.
As a native Buffalonian, I am honored to partner with the patients in our community to help improve their heart health and cardiac knowledge base. I am equally excited to be involved in shaping the next generation of physicians through the teaching I conduct at the medical student, resident and fellow level.
Education and Training:
- American Board of Internal Medicine (2016)
- Fellowship, Cardiology, University at Buffalo (2015)
- Residency, Internal Medicine, University at Buffalo (2012)
- MD, University at Buffalo School of Medicine (2009)
- BS, Dual Major in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Neurobiology, Cornell University (2003)
Employment:
- Associate Professor, Medicine, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2023-present)
- Staff Cardiologist, VA Medical Center (2018-present)
- Adjunct Faculty, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (2017-present)
- Adjunct Faculty, Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo (2017-present)
- Graduate Faculty, Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2017-present)
- Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2018–2023)
- Research Assistant Professor, Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2015–2017)
Awards and Honors:
- Top Doctors in WNY 2024 (2024)
- UB Siegel Award Teaching (2019)
- CTSI Scholar (2016)
- Department of Medicine Research Day, 1st Place (2015)
- John C. Sable Memorial Heart Fund Grant Recipient (2014)
- Northwestern Cardiovascular Young Investigators’ Forum, Basic Research 3rd Place (2013)
- Department of Medicine Research Day, Basic Research 2nd Place (2013)
- Frawley Fellowship Recipient, University at Buffalo (2012)
- Excellence in Neurology Award, American Academy of Neurology (2009)
- Thesis with Research Honors, University at Buffalo (2009)
- University at Buffalo Medical Student Research Forum Honors (2007)
- Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, Cornell University (2003)
- cum laude with Research Distinction, Cornell University (2003)
- Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar, City Honors (1999)
- CHS Science Research Program Diploma, City Honors and RPCI (1999)
- International Baccalaureate Diploma Recipient, City Honors (1999)
Research Expertise:
- Cardiovascular stem cell therapy
Research Centers:
- Center for Research in Cardiovascular Medicine
Grants and Sponsored Research:
- October 2023–September 2027
Enhancing the translational potential of therapeutic exosomes for ischemic heart disease
VA
Role: Principal Investigator
$709,818 - January 2024–December 2024
The Missing Link: Elucidating the role of periodontitis-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of cardiovascular disease
UB CTSI Pilot Study award
Role: Co-Investigator
$48,000 - October 2018–September 2023
The Functional Role of Exosomes in Stem Cell-Mediated Cardiac Repair.
Veteran‘s Administration
Role: Principal Investigator
$1,389,635 - December 2017–November 2022
The Functional Role of Exosomes in Stem Cell Mediated Cardiac Repair.
NIH/NHLBI
Role: Principal Investigator
$1,006,430 - January 2022–January 2022
Improving the Translational Potential of Cell-Free Therapy for Heart Disease
UB’s Seeds for Innovation in Successful Aging (SISA) Pilot Funding Program
Role: Principal Investigator
$25,000 - June 2014–June 2015
The Functional Role of Exosomes in Stem Cell-Mediated Cardiac Repair
John C. Sable Memorial Heart Fund
Role: Principal Investigator
$15,000
Journal Articles:
- Xu Y, Ying L, Lang JK, Hinz B, Zhao R. (2023) Modeling Mechanical Activation of Macrophages During Pulmonary Fibrogenesis for Targeted Anti-Fibrosis Therapy. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology (Jul). doi:10.1101/2023.07.19.549794
- Li G, Chen T, Dahlman J, Eniola-Adefeso L, Ghiran IC, Kurre P, Lam WA, Lang JK, Marbán E, Martín P, Momma S, Moos M, Nelson DJ, Raffai RL, Ren X, Sluijter JPG, Stott SL, Vunjak-Novakovic G, Walker ND, Wang Z, Witwer KW, Yang PC, Lundberg MS, Ochocinska MJ, Wong R, Zhou G, Chan SY, Das S, Sundd P. (2023) Current challenges and future directions for engineering extracellular vesicles for heart, lung, blood and sleep diseases. Journal of extracellular vesicles (Feb), 12(2): e12305. doi:10.1002/jev2.12305
- Momeni A, Eagler L, Lo CY, Weil BR, Canty JM, Lang JK, Neelamegham S. (2021) Neutrophils aid cellular therapeutics by enhancing glycoengineered stem cell recruitment and retention at sites of inflammation. Biomaterials (Sep), 276: 121048.
- Lang JK, Karthikeyan B, Quiñones-Lombraña A, Blair RH, Early AP, Levine EG, Sharma UC, Blanco JG, O. (2021) CBR3 V244M is associated with LVEF reduction in breast cancer patients treated with doxorubicin. Cardio-oncology (London, England) (May), 7(1): 17. doi:10.1186/s40959-021-00103-0
- Anandakrishnan N, Ye H, Guo Z, Chen Z, Mentkowski KI, Lang JK, Rajabian N, Andreadis ST, Ma Z, Spernyak JA, Lovell JF, Wang D, Xia J, Zhou C, Zhao R. (2021) Fast Stereolithography Printing of Large-Scale Biocompatible Hydrogel Models. Advanced healthcare materials (May), 10(10): e2002103.
- Sharma UC, Zhao K, Mentkowski K, Sonkawade SD, Karthikeyan B, Lang JK, Ying L. (2021) Modified GAN Augmentation Algorithms for the MRI-Classification of Myocardial Scar Tissue in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy. Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine (Jan), 8: 726943. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2021.726943
- Mentkowski KI, Euscher LM, Patel A, Alevriadou BR, Lang JK. (2020) Monocyte recruitment and fate specification after myocardial infarction. American journal of physiology. Cell physiology (Nov), 319(5): C797-C806. doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00330.2020
- Mentkowski KI, Mursleen A, Snitzer JD, Euscher LM, Lang JK. (2020) CDC-derived extracellular vesicles reprogram inflammatory macrophages to an arginase 1-dependent proangiogenic phenotype. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology (Jun), 318(6): H1447-H1460. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00155.2020
- Mentkowski KI, Lang JK. (2019) Exosomes Engineered to Express a Cardiomyocyte Binding Peptide Demonstrate Improved Cardiac Retention in Vivo. Sci Rep (Jul), 9(1): 10041-10041.
- Mentkowski, KI, Snitzer, JD, Rusnak, S, Lang JK. (2018) Therapeutic Potential of Engineered Extracellular Vesicles. AAPS (Jul), 20(3).
- Mentkowski KI, Snitzer JD, Rusnak S, Lang JK. (2018) Therapeutic Potential of Engineered Extracellular Vesicles. The AAPS journal (Mar), 20(3): 50.
- Lang JK, Young RF, Ashraf H, Canty JM. (2016) Inhibiting Extracellular Vesicle Release from Human Cardiosphere Derived Cells with Lentiviral Knockdown of nSMase2 Differentially Effects Proliferation and Apoptosis in Cardiomyocytes, Fibroblasts and Endothelial Cells In Vitro. PLoS One (Nov), 11(11): 0165926-0165926.
- Lang JK, Cimato TR. (2014) Cholesterol and hematopoietic stem cells: inflammatory mediators of atherosclerosis. Stem Cells Transl Med (May), 3(5): 549-552.
- Kardys A, Weinstock-Guttman B, Dillon M, Masud W, Weinstock N, Mahfooz N, Lang J, WEinstock A, Lincolff N, Zivadinov R, Ramanathan M. (2013) Cholesterol affects retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis with optic neuritis. European Journal of Neurology (Sep), 20(9): 1264-1271.
- Kardys A, Weinstock-Guttman B, Dillon M, Masud MW, Weinstock N, Mahfooz N, Lang JK, Weinstock A, Lincoff N, Zivadinov R, Ramanathan M. (2013) Cholesterol affects retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis with optic neuritis. European journal of neurology (Sep), 20(9): 1264-71.
- Pol SU, Lang JK, O‘Bara MA, Cimato TR, McCallion AS, Sim FJ. (2013) Sox10-MCS5 enhancer dynamically tracks human oligodendrocyte progenitor fate. Exp Neurol (Mar).
- Cimato TR, Palka BA, Lang JK, Young RF. (2013) LDL cholesterol modulates human CD34+ HSPCs through effects on proliferation and the IL-17 G-CSF axis. PloS one (Jan), 8(8): e73861. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073861
- Wang W, Lang JK, Suzuki G, Canty JM Jr. and Cimato T. (2011) Statins enhance clonal growth of late outgrowth endothelial progenitors and increase myocardial capillary density in the chronically ischemic heart. PLoS One (Jan), 6(9).
- Wang W, Lang JK, Suzuki G, Canty JM, Cimato T. (2011) Statins enhance clonal growth of late outgrowth endothelial progenitors and increase myocardial capillary density in the chronically ischemic heart. PloS one (Jan), 6(9): e24868. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024868
- Sim FJ, Lang JK, Ali TA, Roy NS, Vates GE, Pilcher WH, Goldman SA. (2008) Statin treatment of adult human glial progenitors induces PPAR gamma-mediated oligodendrocytic differentiation. Glia (Jul), 56(9): 954-962.
- Sim FJ, Lang JK, Waldau B, Roy NS, Schwartz TE, Pilcher WH, Chandross KJ, Natesan S, Merrill JE, Goldman SA, Goldmanm SA. (2006) Complementary patterns of gene expression by human oligodendrocyte progenitors and their environment predict determinants of progenitor maintenance and differentiation. Ann Neurol (May), 59(5): 763-779.
- Goldman SA, Lang J, Roy N, Schanz SJ, Sim FJ, Wang S, Washco V, Windrem MS. (2006) Progenitor cell-based myelination as a model for cell-based therapy of the central nervous system. Ernst Schering Res Found Workshop (Jan)(60): 195-213.
Books and Book Chapters:
- Varjabedian L, JK Lang, A Kamouh, SJ Horn, T Kemaloglu, KA Sungur, KJ Mehta, K Bhagatwala, N Karia, MGA Escanuela, RP Gatewood and NC NANDA. (2013) Echocardiographic assessment of tumors and masses. In: Echocardiographic assessment of tumors and masses. , 1-62.
Abstracts:
- Lang JK. (2019) A Transcriptomic Analysis of Cardiac Myofibroblasts Reveals Novel Anti-Fibrotic and Immunomodulatory Genes Modulated by CDC-derived Exosomes. AHA BCVS Meeting 2019, (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2018) Association of CBR3 Polymorphisms With an Early Change in Cardiac Function as Assessed by Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Doxorubicin. San Antonio Breast Care Symposium, (Dec)
- Lang JK, Mentkowski, K. (2018) Development of a Cardiomyocyte Targeting Delivery System Utilizing Cardiosphere-Derived Cell Exosomes. AHA BCVS Meeting, July 2018, (Jul)
- Mursleen, A, Mentkowski, K, Lang JK. (2017) CDC-Derived Exosomes Polarize Macrophages to a Distinct Arg1-High Phenotype. American Heart Association Meeting-Anaheim, CA, (Nov)
- Lang JK. (2015) Exploring the Functional Role of Exosomes in Stem Cell-Mediated Cardiac Repair. American Heart Association Annual Meeting 2015, (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2012) Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor Increases the Angiogenic Properties of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Neuropilin-1 CD34 Nascent Endothelial Cells Via a JAK2 Dependent Pathway. American Heart Association Annual Meeting 2012, (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2011) Genomic Analysis of Early Endothelial Differentiation from Human Stem Cells Identifies Novel Growth Factor Signaling Pathways Involved in Vasculogenesis. AHA Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB), American Heart Association (2011), (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2011) Transcriptional Profiling of Pluripotent Stem-Cell Derived Neuropilin1-1CD34 - Vascular Precursors Reveals Significant Overlap with Ventral Mesoderm and Identifies Signaling Pathways in Differentation to Vascular Cells. AHA Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS), American Heart Association, (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2005) Quiescent Adult Human Glial Progenitors Tonically Antagonize the Astrogliogenic Effects of BMP4. Society for Neuroscience (SFN) annual meeting 2005, (Jan)
- Lang JK. (2005) Statin Treatment of Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Progenitors Induces Precocious PPAR gamma-mediated differentation. Society for Neuroscience (SFN) annual meeting 2005, (Jan)
Professional Memberships:
- American College of Cardiology, Fellow (2012–present)
- American Heart Association (2012–present)
- American College of Cardiology, Member (2012–present)
- American Medical Association, Member (2010–present)
- Society for Neuroscience, Member; Member (2003–2009)
Presentations:
- "Engineering the EV Membrane for Cardiac Repair" NIH/NHLBI virtual workshop "Engineering Extracellular Vesicles for Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep (HLBS) Diseases" (2021)
- "Exploring and Expanding the Therapeutic Roles of Exosomes in Cardioprotection" Medical College of Wisconsin Cardiology Grand Rounds; Medical College of Wisconsin (2018)
- "Exploring and Expanding the Therapeutic Roles of Exosomes in Cardioprotection" CTRC Women in Science Month - 2018; University at Buffalo (2018)
- "Exploring the Functional Role of Cardiosphere Derived-Cell (CDC) Exosomes as Paracrine Signal Mediators of Cardioprotection" University at Buffalo; ; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Seminar Series (2017)
- "Gender Differences in Ischemic Heart Disease: Fact or Fiction?" University at Buffalo; ; Department of Medicine Grand Rounds (2017)
- "EKG Review and Stress Laboratory Emergencies" Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) EGL Meeting (2016)
- "Pericarditis: When to Image, When to Treat" UBMD Primary Care Update: CME Conference (2016)
- "ER Grand Rounds" Pericarditis - Diagnosis, Treatment and Triage in the ER; Gates Vascular Institute; University at Buffalo Grand Rounds (2015)
- "Primary Care Update: Perioperative Beta-Blocker Controversy Begins Again!" UBMD Primary Care Update: CME Conference; UBMD (2015)
- "Novel Signaling Pathways Regulate Nascent Endothelial Cells Derived From Human Pluripotent Stem Cells" Northwestern Cardiovascular Young Investigators‘ Forum (2013)
- "BMP Regulation of Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Fate" American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN); American Society for Neurochemistry (2005)
Service Activities:
- Faculty Advisor for MS Cardiology Interest Group; Faculty Advisor (2022–present)
- Therapeutic Development and Preclinical Studies (TDPS) (2021–present)
- Fundraiser for the AHA Heart Walk; Fundraiser (2021–present)
- New York Chapter of the ACC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force; Task Force Member (2021–present)
- Cardiology Research Director; Cardiology Research Director (2020–present)
- LCME Junior Faculty Panel Member; Panelist (2019–present)
- MD PhD Tri-institutional Research Day Panelist (“How to be a PI”); Panelist (2019–present)
- District Councilor of the New York State Chapter of the American College of Cardiology; District Councilor (2019–2022)
- VA IACUC Committee Member; VA IACUC Committee Member (2018–present)
- Cardiac Contractility and Heart Failure (CCHF) (2017–present)
- Medical School Research Poster Judge (2017–present)
- Medical School Appeals Committee Member; Medical School Appeals Committee Member (2017–present)
- Medical Student Appeals Committee, Member; Member (2017–present)
- Volunteer Cardiologist for yearly NHL Combine; Volunteer (2016–present)
- UB Cardiology Fellowship Selection Committee Member; member (2014–present)
- UB Internal Medicine Resident Selection Committee Member (2010–2011)
- Ad hoc reviewer for multiple journals, including: AAPS, AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, AJP-Renal Physiology, ATVB, Circulation Research, Disease Models and Mechanisms, FASEB, JOVE, Journal of Clinical Medicine, Microvascular Research, Molecular Biotechnology, Molecular Therapy-Nucleic Acids, NPJ Regenerative Medicine, PLoS ONE, Scientific Reports, Theranostics; Journal Reviewer