Description of Research Expertise

Thomas Cappola is the William Smilow Professor and Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research aims to uncover heart failure mechanisms in human subjects and to use these insights to improve treatment. This has involved diverse approaches, including applied genomics, population science, laboratory studies, and clinical trials. He has established and leads a multicenter cohort study of advanced heart failure (Penn Heart Failure Study, PHFS); co-loads a multicenter consortium for human myocardial transcriptomics and systems genetics (Myocardial Applied Genomics Network, MAGNet); serves as a Principal Investigator on the NHLBI Heart Failure Clinical Research Network; and is a contributing member of numerous international genomics consortia. Within the Cardiovascular Division, he has established collaborative leadership to create programs integrating science and clinical care, and has used these as a platform for research and training. In his clinical role, he treats patients with advanced heart failure on the inpatient and outpatient heart failure/transplant service.

Selected Publications

Goli R, Li J, Brandimarto J, Levine LD, Riis V, McAfee Q, DePalma S, Haghighi A, Seidman JG, Seidman CE, Jacoby D, Macones G, Judge DP, Rana S, Margulies KB, Cappola TP, Alharethi R, Damp J, Hsich E, Elkayam U, Sheppard R, Alexis JD, Boehmer J, Kamiya C, Gustafsson F, Damm P, Ersbøll AS, Goland S, Hilfiker-Kleiner D, McNamara DM, Arany Z; IMAC-2 and IPAC investigators.: Genetic and phenotypic landscape of peripartum cardiomyopathy Circulation : 2021.

Garnier S, Harakalova M, Weiss S, Mokry M, Regitz-Zagrosek V, Hengstenberg C, Cappola TP, Isnard R, Arbustini E, Cook SA, van Setten J, Calis JJA, Hakonarson H, Morley MP, Stark K, Prasad SK, Li J, O'Regan DP, Grasso M, Müller-Nurasyid M, Meitinger T, Empana JP, Strauch K, Waldenberger M, Marguiles KB, Seidman CE, Kararigas G, Meder B, Haas J, Boutouyrie P, Lacolley P, Jouven X, Erdmann J, Blankenberg S, Wichter T, Ruppert V, Tavazzi L, Dubourg O, Roizes G, Dorent R, de Groote P, Fauchier L, Trochu JN, Aupetit JF, Bilinska ZT, Germain M, Völker U, Hemerich D, Raji I, Bacq-Daian D, Proust C, Remior P, Gomez-Bueno M, Lehnert K, Maas R, Olaso R, Saripella GV, Felix SB, McGinn S, Duboscq-Bidot L, van Mil A, Besse C, Fontaine V, Blanché H, Ader F, Keating B, Curjol A, Boland A, Komajda M, Cambien F, Deleuze JF, Dörr M, Asselbergs FW, Villard E, Trégouët DA, Charron P: Genome-wide association analysis in dilated cardiomyopathy reveals two new players in systolic heart failure on chromosomes 3p25.1 and 22q11.23 Eur Heart J epub : 2021.

Hanff TC, Cohen JB, Zhao L, Javaheri A, Zamani P, Prenner S, Rietzschel E, Jia Y, Walsh A, Maranville J, Wang Z, Adam L, Ramirez-Valle, F, Schafer P, Seiffert D, Gordon DA, Cvijic ME, Cappola TP, Chirinos JA: Quantitative proteomic analysis of diabetes mellitus in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction JACC Basic Transl Sci 6 (2): 89-99,2021.

Shah PP, Lv W, Rhoades JH, Poleshko A, Abbey D, Caporizzo MA, Linares-Saldana R, Heffler JG, Sayed N, Thomas D, Wang Q, Stanton LJ, Bedi K, Morley MP, Cappola TP, Owens AT, Margulies KB, Frank DB, Wu JC, Rader DJ, Yang W, Prosser BL, Musunuru K, Jain R: Pathogenic LMNA variants disrupt cardiac lamina-chromatin interactions and de-repress alternative fate genes Cell Stem Cell : S1934,2021.

Puckelwartz MJ, Pesce LL, Dellefave-Castillo LM, Wheeler MT, Pottinger TD, Robinson AC, Kearns SD, Gacita AM, Schoppen ZJ, Pan W, Kim G, Wilcox JE, Anderson AS, Ashley EA, Day SM, Cappola T, Dorn GW 2nd, McNally EM: Genomic context differs between human dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy J Am Heart Assoc (10): e019944,2021.

Eberly LA, Kallan MJ, Julien HM, Haynes N, Khatana SAM, Nathan AS, Snider C, Chokshi NP, Eneanya ND, Takvorian SU, Anastos-Wallen R, Chaiyachati K, Ambrose M, O'Quinn R, Seigerman M, Goldberg LR, Leri D, Choi K, Gitelman Y, Kolansky DM, Cappola TP, Ferrari VA, Hanson CW, Deleener ME, Adusumalli S: Patient Characteristics Associated With Telemedicine Access for Primary and Specialty Ambulatory Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic JAMA Netw Open 3 (12): e2031640,2020.

Chirinos JA, Cohen JB, Zhao L, Hanff T, Sweitzer N, Fang J, Corrales-Medina V, Anmar R, Morley M, Zamani P, Bhattacharya P, Brandimarto J, Jia Y, Basso MD, Wang Z, Ebert C, Ramirez-Valle F, Schafer PH, Seiffert D, Gordon DA, Cappola TP: Clinical and proteomic correlates of plasma ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2) in human heart failure Hypertension 76 (5): 1526-36,2020.

Anene-Nzelu CG, Tan WLW, Lee CJM, Wenhao Z, Perrin A, Dashi A, Tiang Z, Autio MI, Lim B, Wong E, Tan HS, Pan B, Morley MP, Margulies KB, Cappola TP, Foo RS: Assigning distal genomic enhancers to cardiac disease-causing genes. Circulation 142 (9): 910-912,2020.

Verweij N, Benjamins JW, Morley MP, van de Vegte YJ, Teumer A, Trenkwalder T, Reinhard W, Cappola TP, van der Harst P.: The genetic makeup of the electrocardiogram Cell Syst. 11 (3): 229-38,2020.

Tan WLW, Anene-Nzelu CG, Wong E, Lee M, Tan HS, Tang SJ, Perrin AMY, Wu KX, Zheng WH, Ashburn RJ, Pan B, Lee MY, Autio MI, Morley M, Tam WL, Cheung C, Margulies KB, Chen L, Cappola TP, Loh M, Chambers J, Prabhakar S, Foo RS: Epigenomes of human hearts reveal new genetic variants relevant for cardiac disease and phenotype Circ Res 127 (6): 761-777,2020.

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Academic Contact Information

Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
11-113 South Pavilion
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-3140
Patient appointments: 800-789-7366