Stephen Black, Ph.D.

Stephen Black oversees all college of medicine research enterprises. He also heads the FIU Center for Translational Science, a state-of-the-art research facility in Port St. Lucie. He is a member of Florida’s Biomedical Research Advisory Council, a prestigious group appointed by Florida’s governor to provide insights to Florida’s surgeon general on the trajectory of the state’s biomedical and cancer research programs.

Black is a vascular biologist whose laboratory takes a translational approach to the roles played by oxidative and nitrosative stress in the development of pulmonary hypertension, lung injury, and stroke. He is currently funded via several NIH awards, including two P01 awards focused on ventilator mediated lung injury and pulmonary vascular disease. His lab has been supported by extramural funding for over 20 years, with total career funding of over $50MM from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, March of Dimes, and the Leducq Foundation.

Research areas

• Role of mechanical forces in modifying cellular metabolism in children born with complex congenital heart defects
• Mechanisms underlying the mitochondrial redistribution of endothelial NO synthase to the mitochondria
• Regulation of pp60Src signaling in pulmonary vascular disease
• Effects of protein kinase G (PKG) nitration on pulmonary vascular injury
• Role of Sox18 in regulating endothelial barrier function

Education

Ph.D., Molecular Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
B.S., Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Active grants

Project: Nitric Oxide Synthase-Mitochondrial interactions & endothelial dysfunction
Role: Principal Investigator
Sponsor: NIH/NHLBI
Period: 03/01/2017 - 02/28/2022
Total Funding: $2,227,000 
Objectives: The overall goals of this proposal are to achieve a clearer understanding of the mechanisms by which shear stress stimulates the redistribution of endothelial NOS to the mitochondria.

Project: Genetics, Epigenetics and Post-translational Modifications in the Development of Ventilator-induced Lung Injury (VILI)
Role: Principal Investigator
Sponsor: NIH/NHLBI
Period: 02/01/2018 – 01/31/2023
Total Funding: $12,500,000 
Objectives: The overall goals of this proposal are to identify new signaling pathways and potential therapies for VILI/ARDS.

Project: PKG Signaling and Sepsis Induced ALI 
Role: Principal Investigator
Sponsor: NIH/NHLBI
Period: 07/01/2018 – 06/30/2022
Total Funding: $1,900,000
Objectives:To investigate the role of PKG nitration in the disruption of endothelial barrier function in ALI/ARDS

Project: Metabolic Reprogramming and Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Congenital Heart Disease
Role: Principal Investigator
Sponsor: NIH/NHLBI
Period: 08/01/2020 – 06/30/2025
Total Funding: $11,900,000
Objectives: The overall goals of this proposal are to investigate the role of mechanical forces in the metabolic reprogramming associated with the development of pulmonary vascular disease in children born with complex congenital heart defects.