Khanh-Van Thi Tran, MD, PhD

In this month’s Researcher Spotlight, we feature the work of Khanh-Van Thi Tran, MD, PhD, a cardiologist, physician-scientist, and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Tran’s laboratory aims to better understand the molecular mechanisms of epicardial adipose tissue, a unique fat depot near the heart muscle, which influences adverse cardiac remodeling to increase risk of cardiovascular disease. 
 
For Dr. Tran, the path to becoming a physician-scientist felt natural due to her passion for the scientific process and her desire to use it to help other people. As an undergraduate at Smith College, her initial experience at UMass Chan Medical School began with an NIH-sponsored summer research fellowship for underrepresented and first-generation students. During this time, she was mentored by Dr. Celia Schiffer, chair of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology. “I was very lucky to have interned in Dr. Schiffer’s lab,” Dr. Tran said. “She was a wonderful mentor and has always been inspiring to me as a scientist. When I was applying for medical school, Dr. Schiffer was a major influence in my decision to come here.”  

After completing her degree at Smith, Dr. Tran earned her MD and PhD in Molecular Medicine through the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at UMass Chan, where she studied the development of adipose tissue under the mentorship of Dr. Silvia Corvera in the Program in Molecular Medicine. In the course of her research, she became interested in how fat cells influence cardiovascular and cardiometabolic health, which then formed her path as a preventive cardiologist and scientist. “My time in the MSTP was formative. The most important thing I learned was more fundamental than my research results – it was how to ask the right questions and designing experiments to directly answer those questions,” said Dr. Tran. “It also taught me how to work collaboratively. Science is a team sport, and UMass strives to provide that environment.”  

Now leading her own laboratory, Dr. Tran has taken those lessons to heart. Her lab’s research includes an NIH-funded study on epicardial adipose tissue and its effects on patients’ risk of developing postoperative atrial fibrillation—a focus that stems from research under the mentorship of Dr. David McManus during her cardiovascular medicine fellowship. Additionally, her lab investigates perivascular adipose tissue's contribution to the development of atherosclerosis. Dr. Tran is also the site principal investigator for VICTORION-1 PREVENT, a Novartis-sponsored Phase 3 trial evaluating Inclisiran, an siRNA targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, for reducing major adverse cardiac events in patients at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. 
 
Alongside her responsibilities as a researcher, Dr. Tran is just as passionate about seeing patients in the clinic. “The greatest part of being a physician-scientist is that you get to bridge the entire spectrum between the bench and the bedside,” she said. “With bench research, clinical trials and clinical work, I can use the skills that I have to improve patients’ lives. The thought of preventing a single heart attack or arrhythmia for a patient with what I do – that’s what brings meaning to my work.” 

After earning her MD and PhD, Dr. Tran completed the Internal Medicine residency and a fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease at UMass Chan. During her fellowship, she conducted postdoctoral research training with Dr. John Keaney, the former chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at UMass Chan, studying endothelial response to shear stress. Dr. Tran joined the faculty at UMass Chan in 2021. 
 
We are grateful to Dr. Tran for her many contributions as a physician-scientist in the Department of Medicine! 

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