Jennifer Hall, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Director, Program in Translational Cardiovascular Genomics
Lillehei Heart Institute
Developmental Biology Center

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research

Dr. Hall received her doctorate in human biodynamics/physiology from the University of California-Berkeley, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at Stanford University and the Harvard Medical School under the direction of Drs. Garry Gibbons and Victor Dzau. A University of Minnesota dean's faculty recruit, Dr. Hall joined the Lillehei Heart Institute in 2001. In 2002, she was named director of the LHI program in translational cardiovascular genomics. Dr. Hall recently completed a visiting scientist position at the BROAD Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Research Interests

Dr. Hall's research interests in translational genomics are identifying the biological functions of polymorphisms associated with cardiovascular disease. Through innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches (involving population genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, and transgenic and knockout animals), Her laboratory incorporates new bioinformatics approaches, data from model organisms and cells, genome-wide association data, tissue-specific gene expression and miRNA expression from banked genotyped human specimens, and clinical studies. Currently, Dr. Hall's laboratory is focused on:

• Identifying DNA variants in microRNA binding sites in genes that are associated with heart failure (this work is funded by the National Institute of Health). This work includes bioinformatics approaches, genotyping, microRNA expression and molecular wet lab approaches.


• Heparan sulfate in vascular structure and remodeling: Following a novel finding that Wnts and TCF7L2 regulate vascular remodeling (Wang et al, Circ Res, 2002), Dr. Hall's laboratory set forth to unravel the undiscovered role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in vascular development and remodeling. In collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Esko at the University of California-San Diego and Dr. Scott Selleck at Pennsylvania State University, the laboratory uses multiple murine models to address how alterations in heparan sulfate fine structure affect growth-factor trafficking, vascular development, arterial elasticity, and blood pressure (this work is funded by the National Institutes of Health).


• Identifying DNA variants associated with altered vascular reactivity in African Americans. Identification of genes with common/rare variants affecting even 1% of the African American population in the United States will account for ~375,000 individuals at risk for hypertension. In order to accomplish this research, we will use state-of-the-art exome sequencing and bioinformatics, a deeply phenotyped collection of samples from the NHLBI Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), and mechanistic studies in mouse and cellular models.

Ongoing work in Dr. Hall’s laboratory involves identifying the genetic, phenotypic, and molecular changes that occur in the failing heart. Collaborating with leading researchers around the world (including professors Magdi Yacoub, Leslie Miller, Paul Barton, Emma Birks, Joe Metzger, and others), Dr. Hall’s laboratory currently assesses SNPs in miRNA binding regions of genes associated with myocyte contractility.

view Dr. Hall's laboratory website

Ongoing Research Support

Hall (PI)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: 1-2007-819   
“Defining the Role of Glucose in Vascular Remodeling.”
The goal of this grant is to define the role of glucose in vascular complications with restenosis.
$495,000 / 1.8 calendar months (09/01/2007-08/31/2010)

Hall (PI)   
NIH-1R21DK078029-01    
“Defining How a Variant in TCF7L2 Confers Increased Risk for Type 2 Diabetes”
The goal of this project is to identify the biological function of a variant in TCF7L2 that confers increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
$125,000 / 3 calendar months

Hall (PI)
NIH-R01HL081715A1
“The Role of Heparan Sulfate in Vascular Remodeling”
The goal of this project is to determine how heparan sulfate fine structure affects the process of vascular remodeling in response to injury.
$250,000 / 5.4 calendar months (05/01/2007-04/30/2012)

Professional Organizations, Committees, and Selected Honors

2006-present: NHLBI AICS Study Section, charter member
2005:             Genome Canada Study Section
2005-2007:     NHLBI, Vascular Biology, Special Emphasis Panel
2008-present: AHA Innovative Grant Study Section
2008-present: co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research
2008-present: Vice-President, International Society of Cardiovascular Translational Research
2009-present: Associate Editor, Journal of American College of Cardiology
2009-present: Editorial Board, Circulation Research
2009-present: Co-Chair, AHA, Genomics and Observational Epidemiology
2010-present: Genome Canada, Grant Study Section
2011-present: NHLBI PPG Grant Study Section
2011-present: Scientific Advisory Board Faculty, International Academy of Cardiology
2011-present: Chair, Professional Education and Publications Committee, FGTB Council, AHA
2011-present: Chair, Professional Writing Group on Genetics and Genomics, JACC
2011-present: Scientific Advisory Board International Academy of Cardiology, 17th World Congress on Heart DiseaseJournal Editorial Boards

Circulation Research, editorial board
http://circres.ahajournals.org/misc/edboard.shtml
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Associate Editor
http://content.onlinejacc.org/misc/edboard.dtl
Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, Co-Editor in Chief
http://www.springer.com/medicine/cardiology/journal/12265

Selected Publications (2006-2010)

1. Musunuru K, Strong A, Frank-Kamenetsky M, Lee NE, Ahfeldt T, Sachs KV, Li X, Li H, Kuperwasser N, Ruda VM, Pirruccello JP, Muchmore B, Prokunina-Olsson L, Hall JL, Schadt EE, Morales CR, Lund-Katz S, Phillips MC, Wong J, Cantley W, Ejebe KG, Orho-Melander M, Melander O, Koteliansky V, Krauss R, Cowan CA, Kathiresan S, Rader DJ. From genotype to phenotype at the 1p13 cholesterol and heart attack locus. Nature 466:714-719, 2010. PMID: 20686566

2. Adhikari N, Basi D, Carlson M, Mariash A, Hong A, Lehman U, Mullegama S, Weir E, Hall JL. Tissue specific Increase in GLUT1 in Smooth Muscle Decreases Vascular Contractility and Increases Inflammation in response to Vascular Injury. ATVB 31:86-94, 2011. PMID: 20947823.

3. Adhikari N, Basi DL, Townsend D, Rusch M, Mariash A, Mullegama S, Watson A, Larson J, Tan S, Lerman B, Esko JD, Selleck SB, Hall JL. Heparan sulfate Ndst1 regulates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, vessel size and vascular remodeling. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 49:287-93, 2010. PMID: 20206635.

4. Prokunina-Olsson L, Welch C, Hansson O, Adhikari N, Scott L, Usher N, Tong M, Sprau A, Swift A, Bonnycastle L, Erdos M, Zhi H, Saxena R, Harmon B, Kotova O, Hoffman E, Altshuler D, Groop L, Boehnke M, Collins F, Hall JL. Tissue-specific alternative splicing of TCF7L2. Hum Mol Genet. 18(20):3795-3804, 2009. PMID: PMC2748888.

5. Ghosh G, Subramanian IV, Adhikari N, Zhang X, Joshi HP, Basi D, Chandrashekhar YS, Hall JL, Roy S, Zeng Y, Ramakrishnan S. Hypoxia-induced microRNA-424 expression in human endothelial cells regulates HIF-a isoforms and promotes angiogenesis. J Clin Invest. 120:4141-54, 2010. PMID: 20972335

6. McCarroll SA, Huett A, Kuballa P, Chilewski SD, Landry A, Goyette P, Zody MC, Hall JL, Brant SR, Cho JH, Duerr RH, Silverberg MS, Taylor KD, Rioux JD, Altshuler D, Daly MJ, Xavier RJ. Deletion polymorphism upstream of IRGM associated with altered IRGM expression and Crohn's disease. Nature Genetics. 40, 1107-1112, 2008. PMCID: PMC2731799.

7. Bielinski SJ, Hall JL, Pankow JS, Boerwinkle E, Matijevic-Aleksic N, He M, Chambless L, Folsom AR. Genetic variants in TLR2 and TLR4 are associated with markers of monocyte activation: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities MRI Study. Hum Genet 129(6):655-62, 2011.
PMID: 21298446

8. Orho-Melander M, Melander O, Guiducci C, Perez-Martinez P, Corella D, Roos C, Tewhey R, Rieder MJ, Hall JL, Abecasis G, Tai ES, Welch C, Arnett DK, Lyssenko V, Lindholm E, Saxena R, de Bakker PI, Burtt N, Voight BF, Hirschhorn JN, Tucker KL, Hedner T, Tuomi T, Isomaa B, Eriksson KF, Taskinen MR, Wahlstrand B, Hughes TE, Parnell LD, Lai CQ, Berglund G, Peltonen L, Vartiainen E, Jousilahti P, Havulinna AS, Salomaa V, Nilsson P, Groop L, Altshuler D, Ordovas JM, Kathiresan S. A common missense variant in the glucokinase regulatory protein gene (GCKR) is associated with increased plasma triglyceride and C-reactive protein but lower fasting glucose concentrations. Diabetes 57: 3112-3121, 2008. PMID: 18678614

9. Hall JL, Birks EJ, Rider J, Grindle S, Barton P, Mariash A, Charles N, Dyke DB, Pagoni F, Yacoub MH. Miller LW. Molecular signature of recovery following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support. Eur Heart J. 28:613-27, 2007. PMID: 17132651

10. Zhou B, Honor LB, He H, Ma Q, Oh JH, Butterfield C, Lin RZ, Melero-Martin JM, Dolmatova E, Duffy HS, Gise A, Zhou P, Hu YW, Wang G, Zhang B, Wang L, Hall JL, Moses MA, McGowan FX, Pu WT. Adult mouse epicardium modulates myocardial injury by secreting paracrine factors. J Clin Invest. 121(5):1894-1904, 2011.
PMID: 21505261.

11. Pollman MJ, Hall JL, Mann MJ, Zhang L, Gibbons GH. Inhibition of neointimal cell bcl-x expression induces apoptosis and regression of vascular disease. Nat Med. 4:222-7, 1998. PMID: 9461197