Professor of Medicine: Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine Dr. Richard Karas's major research interest is the effect of estrogen on the cardiovascular system. More specifically, his research focuses on the molecular pathways that medicate estrogen’s direct effects on vascular cells. Recent studies from the Molecular Cardiology Research Center have shown that estrogen receptors in vascular cells can be activated in several novel ways, including activation in the absence of estrogen. He also uses whole animal, mouse models of cardiovascular diseases to study the effects of estrogen on the vascular system in vivo. In conjunction with the MCRI’s mouse physiology core and mouse transgenic core laboratories, studies of estrogens effects on the response to vascular injury, on myocardial infarction, and on cardiac electrophysiology are all ongoing.