Armando Vergara-Martel, MS, received his master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University in Physiology, in addition to a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland – College Park, with a focus on Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. Armando is a researcher at the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI), where his primary focus lies in exploring the environmental determinants of health, particularly concerning Particulate Matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5). Armando's work is crucial in understanding how these microscopic particles influence disease processes. Armando's interests extend to cardiovascular disease, age-related dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Armand's work contributes to the broader understanding of disease processes, providing a holistic approach to treating these complex diseases. Additionally, he is the director of the Metabolic Core, a specialized facility within the CVRI. This core is dedicated to the comprehensive metabolic and activity phenotyping of mice. It employs advanced methods to assess metabolic rates, energy expenditure, and physical activity levels in mice, offering invaluable insights into metabolic disorders and treatment responses. The facility also plays a pivotal role in researching obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment for precise and reliable data collection. Also being a member of the Cardiovascular Phenomics Lab since 2016, his research originally focused on advanced imaging modalities such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS), Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), in addition to angiography, Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR). At the forefront of a cardiovascular lab, Armando leads groundbreaking research that harnesses these technologies to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of various heart and vascular diseases. His work is pivotal in integrating findings from different imaging techniques, providing a comprehensive view of cardiovascular health and disease. This integrative approach not only enhances diagnostic accuracy but also informs the development of more effective therapeutic strategies, significantly advancing the field of cardiology. Armando’s contributions are marked by a commitment to innovation and a deep understanding of the complexities of heart disease, positioning him as a key figure in shaping the future of cardiovascular care.
Research Information
Research Interests
Peer-Reviewed Publications
• Gharaibeh, Y., Lee, J., Zimin, V., Chaitanya, K., Dallan, L., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A . . . Wilson, D. (2023). Prediction of Stent Under-Expansion in Calcified Coronary Arteries Using Machine-Learning on Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography.
• Lee, J., Kim, J., Gharaibeh, Y., Dallan, L., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A . . . Wilson, D. (2023). OCTOPUS - Optical Coherence Tomography Plaque and Stent Analysis Software.
• Dallan, L., Zimin, V., Zago, E., Lee, J., Gharaibeh, Y., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A . . . Wilson, D. (2021). Assessment of Different Post-Dilatation Strategies for Optimal Stent Expansion in Calcified Coronary Lesions in an Ex Vivo Model by Optical Coherence Tomography. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Dallan, L., Pereira, G. T. R., Zimin, V., Zago, E., Vergara-Martel, A . . . Bezerra, H. (2020). Comparison of Stent Expansion Using a Volumetric Versus the Conventional Method through Optical Coherence Tomography in an All-Comers Population. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Zimin, V., Jones, M., Richmond, T., Durieux, J., Alaiti, A., Pereira, G. T. R., , Vergara-Martel, A., . . . Bezerra, H. (2020). A Feasibility Study of the DyeVert™ Plus Contrast Reduction System to Reduce Contrast Media in Optical Coherence Tomography–Guided Percutaneous Coronary Interventions. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A. P., Vergara-Martel, A., Alaiti, M. A., & Bezerra, H. G. (2020). Treatment of in-stent restenosis using excimer laser coronary atherectomy and bioresorbable vascular scaffold guided by optimal coherence tomography. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Zago, E. I., Samdani, A. J., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A., Alaiti, M. A., Dallan, L. A., . . . Bezerra, H. G. (2020). An assessment of the quality of optical coherence tomography image acquisition. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging, 1-8.
• Dallan, L. A. P., Pereira, G. T. R., Alaiti, M. A., Zimin, V., Vergara-Martel, A., Zago, E. I., . . . Bezerra, H. G. (2019). Laser Imaging: Unraveling Laser Atherectomy Mechanisms of Action with Optical Coherence Tomography. Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports, 12(8), 33.
• Dallan, L. A. P., Ribeiro, M. H., Igwe, C., Rodrigues, G. T. P., Zago, E. I., Zimin, V., Vergara- Martel, A . . . Shishehbor, M. (2019). Rotational Atherectomy and Mechanical Support to Treat Left Main. JACC: Case Reports, 1(5), 811-814.
• Dallan, L. A. P., Young, A., Bansal, E., Gage, A., Alaiti, M. A., Rodrigues, G. T. P., Vergara- Martel, A . . . Zimin, V. (2019). Predicted coronary occlusion and Impella salvage during valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Pereira, G. T., La Manna, A., Ichibori, Y., Vergara-Martel, A., Nascimento, B. R., Samdani, A. J., . . . Venuti, G. (2019). Optical coherence tomography evaluation of the absorb bioresorbable scaffold performance for overlap versus non-overlap segments in patients with coronary chronic total occlusion: insight from the GHOST-CTO registry. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging, 35(10), 1767-1776.
• Pizzato, P. E., Samdani, A. J., Vergara-Martel, A., Dallan, L. A. P., Pereira, G. T. R., Zago, E., . . . Bezerra, H. G. (2019). Feasibility of coronary angiogram-derived vessel fractional flow reserve in the setting of standard of care percutaneous coronary intervention and its correlation with invasive FFR. International Journal of Cardiology.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pizzato, P. E., Dallan, L. A. P., Pereira, G. T. R., Richmond, H. C. T., Attizzani, G. F., & Jones, M. R. (2019). Very early in-stent neoatherosclerosis assessed by optical coherence tomography. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging, 1-2.
• Pereira, G. T. R., La Manna, A., MiccichS, E., D'Agosta, G., Vergara-Martel, A., Gravina, G., . . . Tamburino, C. (2017). Optical Coherence Tomography evaluation of the Absorb bioresorbable scaffold performance for overlap versus non-overlap segments in patients with coronary chronic total occlusion: insights from the GHOST-CTO registry. Paper presented at the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Bezerra, H. G., Mehanna, E., & Attizzani, G. F. (2017). Optical Coherence Tomography Assessment Prevented Unnecessary Intervention in an “Ambiguous” Angiographic Image. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 10(22), 2338-2339.
Published Abstracts
• Walker, J., Khalifa, Y., Vergara-Martel, A., Rashid, I., Dobre, M., Fares, A., et al. SPIRONOLACTONE PREVENTS PROGRESSION OF AORTIC ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN HIGH- RISK DIABETIC CKD ON RAS BLOCKADE: SECONDARY ANALYSIS FROM MAGMA. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2023 Vol. 81 Issue 8_Supplement Pages 2041-2041
• Khalifa, Y., Walker, J., Vergara-Martel, A., Rashid, I., Dobre, M., Fares, A., et al. SPIRONOLACTONE INDUCES LEFT VENTRICULAR MASS REGRESSION INDEPENDENTLY OF BP IN HIGH-RISK DIABETIC CKD ON RAS BLOCKADE. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2023 Vol. 81 Issue 8_Supplement Pages 2071-2071
• Glenn, J., Vergara-Martel, A., Cara, EA., Chalappurath, K., Rengasamy, P., Rajagopalan, S. et al. Single-cell sequencing reveals smooth-muscle to fibroblast transition in air pollution mediated atherosclerosis. Physiology 2023 Vol. 38 Issue S1 Pages 5727536
• Glenn, J., Cara, EA., Vergara-Martel, A., Chalappurath, K., Rengasamy, P., Rajagopalan, S. et al. Endothelial mesenchymal transition with air pollution mediated atherosclerosis: insights from single cell RNA sequencing and trajectory inference analysis. Physiology 2023 Vol. 38 Issue S1 Pages 5734341
• Dallan, L. A., Dong. P,. A., Zimin. V., Lee, J., Gharaibeh, Y., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A . . . Bezerra, H. (2020). TCT- 408 Prediction of Vessel Rupture Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography as a Function of Increasing Pressure and Balloon Size in Stent Post-Dilatation for Calcified Coronary Lesions in Ex Vivo and In Silico Experimental Model. Journal of the American College of
Cardiology 76 (17 Supplement S), B175-B175
• Dallan, L. A., Igwe, C. A., Naddeem, F., Fares, A., Flam, E., Pereira, G. T. R., Zago, E., Vergara- Martel, A . . . Fitzsimons, B. C. (2020). CRT-600.33 Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography Preplanning Yields Safety and Feasibility for the Left Atrial Appendage Closure Using the Minimalist Approach. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 13(4 Supplement), S56.
• Dallan, L. A., Pereira, G. T. R., Zimin, V., Zago, E. I., Vergara-Martel, A., Fares, A., . . . Bezerra, H. G. (2020). CRT-300.02 Comparison of Stent Expansion Using a Novel Volumetric Method Versus the Traditional Calculation Through Optical Coherence Tomography in An All-Comers Population. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 13(4 Supplement), S36.
• Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A., Alaiti, M. A., Zago, E. I., Vergara-Martel, A., Fares, A., . . . Bezerra, H. (2020). CRT-300.04 Treatment of In-Stent Restenosis Using Excimer Laser Coronary Atherectomy and Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold Guided by Optical Coherence Tomography. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 13(4 Supplement), S37.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L., Zago, E., Fares, A., Zimin, V., & Bezerra, H. G. (2020). CRT-300.03 The Impact of Maximum Balloon Inflation Pressure on Stent Expansion as Measured by the Volumetric Method. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 13(4 Supplement), S36.
• Dallan, L., Pereira, G. T. R., Zago, E., Vergara-Martel, A., Pizzato, P. E., Zimin, V., . . . Bezerra, H. (2019). TCT-354 Evaluation of a New Food and Drug Administration–Approved Optical Coherence Tomography Method for Stent Expansion in an All-Comers Population. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(13 Supplement), B351.
• Jia, D., Pereira, G. T. R., Vergara-Martel, A., Dallan, L. A., Zimin, V., Zago, E., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). 100.04 The Effect of Plaque Characteristics on Stent Expansion Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Using a Novel Volumetric Method. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S2.
• Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A. P., Pizzato, P., Vergara-Martel, A., Zago, E., Zimin, V., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). 100.02 Correlation Between Fraction Flow Reserve Variation and Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging Post-Stenting Optimization: Results from ILUMIEN-I Trial. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S1.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A. P., Pizzato, P., Zago, E., Zimin, V., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). 100.07 Comparison of Stent Expansion Assessment by Three-Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Angiography Versus Optical Coherence Tomography. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S2-S3.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Jia, D., Zago, E., Dallan, L., Pizzato, P. E., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). TCT-351 Diagnostic Performance of Post-Stenting 3-Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Angiography to Predict Underexpansion as Measured by Optical Coherence Tomography. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(13 Supplement), B348.
• Zago, E., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A., Pizzato, P., Samdani, J., Jia, D., Elbey, M., Zimin, V., Vergara-Martel, A., Attizzani, G. (2019). 100.05 An Assessment of the Quality of Optical Coherence Tomography Image Acquisition: Are We Doing the Basics Right? JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S2.
• Zimin, V., Gharaibeha, Y., Lee, J., Pereira, G. T. R., Alaiti, M. A., Jia, D., Vergara-Martel, A., . . . Pizzato, P. (2019). 100.01 Calcium analysis in coronary intravascular optical coherence tomography images using deep machine learning and finite element modeling. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S1.
• Zimin, V., Jones, M., Richmond, T., Durieux, J., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L., Vergara-Martel, A., . . . Bezerra, H. (2019). TCT-618 A Feasibility Study of the DyeVert™ Plus Contrast Reduction System to Reduce Contrast Media in Optical Coherence Tomography–Guided Percutaneous Coronary Interventions. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(13 Supplement), B606.
• Kish, E.C., Glavan, A., O’Neil, K.M., Vergara-Martel, A., Tensol, G., Bezerra, H.G., Moran, T.R., Bocks, M.L., (2018). Preclinical Evaluation of a Novel Zinc Bioresorbable Stent for Use in Congenital Heart DIsease. Journal of Structural Heart Disease. 4(4), p100.
• Rodrigues Pereira, G. T., La Manna, A., Miccichè, E., D'Agosta, G., Vergara-Martel, A., Gravina, G., . . . Tamburino, C. (2017). TCT-171 Optical Coherence Tomography evaluation of the Absorb bioresorbable scaffold performance for overlap versus non-overlap segments in patients with coronary chronic total occlusion: insights from the GHOST-CTO registry. JOURNAL-AMERICAN
COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY, 70(18), B73-B73. Conference Poster Presentations
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L., Zago, E., Fares, A., Zimin, V., & Bezerra, H. G. (2020). CRT-300.03 The Impact of Maximum Balloon Inflation Pressure on Stent Expansion as Measured by the Volumetric Method. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 13(4 Supplement), S36.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Dallan, L. A. P., Pizzato, P., Zago, E., Zimin, V., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). 100.07 Comparison of Stent Expansion Assessment by Three-Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Angiography Versus Optical Coherence Tomography. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 12(4 Supplement), S2-S3.
• Vergara-Martel, A., Pereira, G. T. R., Jia, D., Zago, E., Dallan, L., Pizzato, P. E., . . . Attizzani, G. (2019). TCT-351 Diagnostic Performance of Post-Stenting 3-Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Angiography to Predict Underexpansion as Measured by Optical Coherence Tomography. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 74(13 Supplement), B348.
Research Projects
Acknowledgements
• Ichibori, Y., Puri, R., Taramasso, M., Nietlispach, F., Attizzani, G. F., Meier, B., . . . Das, R. (2020). An optimized approach for transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation: A comprehensive review and current evidence. Cardiovascular Revascularization Medicine.
• Ichibori, Y., Patel, S. M., Kalra, A., & Attizzani, G. F. (2019b). Medtronic Program for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation. In Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (pp. 287-300): Springer.
Additional Information
Faculty Invitations: Teaching and Presentations
Cardiovascular Research Technologies 2019 “Left Main Intra-stent Restenosis Treatment with laser Atherectomy guided by OCT” Washington, D.C.
Cardiovascular Research Technologies 2019 “Comparison of Stent Expansion Assessment by Three- Dimensional Quantitative Coronary Angiography Versus Optical Coherence Tomography” Washington, D.C.
Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2018 “Now That I See It, I Know How to Treat It! A Hands- On Skills Lab” San Diego, CA