Research Interest:

In the clinical arena, as Vice-chair and Associate Director of the Laboratory, I provide medical oversight of outpatient laboratory testing and the laboratory computer system. In education, I oversee the Department's teaching programs for the UCLA School of Medicine, and have an interest in the development and use of web based educational programs. As a member of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at UCLA, my research involves the genetics of vascular disease. This is focused on the identification of genes influencing plasma homocysteine, vascular calcification, and bone density, employing linkage analysis techniques on human family sets and inbred mouse intercrosses for these traits. In one project, we are working to identify a gene in mice responsible for susceptibility for cardiac myocyte injury and calcification, and to study its potential role in atherosclerotic lesion calcification and bone density.

Thomas Drake, M.D.

Vice-Chair and 
Associate Director of the Laboratory