Ferdinand le Noble

Ferdinand le Noble obtained his PhD at the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM) with a thesis addressing the role of angiogenesis in the ontogenesis of essential hypertension. He focused at understanding how genetic and hemodynamic factors control arterial architecture during development, and identified a critical role for the Vegf-sFlt1-Kdr pathway in fetal programming of adult cardiovascular disease including left ventricular cardiomyopathy and hypertension. After working at the College de France in Paris in the lab of Anne Eichmann and Pierre Corvol, and as Univ. Prof. at the Max Delbrueck Center (MDC) in collaboration with the Center for Stroke Research at the Charite in Berlin, he was appointed full professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).  Vascular network remodeling and the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis and arteriogenesis) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of ischemic cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, which are the most common causes of mortality in western society. Our goal is to generate novel genetic insights in the regulation of vascular development that can translate into therapeutic strategies. Our research projects aim at understanding the molecular regulation of angiogenesis, arteriogenesis and the formation of organo-typical vasculatures and angiocrine control in the context of neural and cardiac tissue regeneration. We have a particular interest in the cross-talk between vessels and nerves, and the role of neuronal guidance molecules herein. For this purpose we use an integrative genetic and physiological approach in zebrafish and mouse model systems.