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The Valdes Laboratories
is presently comprised of three units of basic and clinical
research activities: the Basic
Research Unit which focuses on the discovery,
characterization, and function of mammalian cardiotonic steroids
(DLIF and OLF); the Diagnostic Reference
Laboratory which provides a biomarker discovery
and validation resource for the diagnostic and pharmaceutical
industries; and, the Pharmacogenetics
Diagnostic Laboratory (PGx) which provides both
research discovery work and clinical services. Associated
with these laboratories is also a Postdoctoral
Fellowship Training Program in clinical chemistry
and other related laboratory medicine sub-specialties.
The individual missions of these laboratory units, along
with their affiliated personnel and on-going research projects,
are described in this web page and its links.
MISSION:
The primary mission of the Valdes Laboratories is the discovery
and characterization of biological markers of disease. Our
goal is to understand the biological role and molecular mechanisms
involved in pathophysiology as they related to the biological
marker. It is also our mission to develop the careers of promising
scientists by providing training opportunities in both the
basic and clinical sciences through active collaborations
with the academic and clinical communities.
HISTORY:
Roland Valdes, Jr., Ph.D. moved his laboratory to the University
of Louisville School of Medicine from Washington University
in St. Louis in 1989. The three laboratory units now in Louisville
have evolved as a result of discoveries made in the course
of our basic science and clinical inquiries. For example,
our interest in the endogenous digitalis-like factors (DLIFs)
developed after the discovery of aberrant results obtain from
a clinical immunoassay on a patient’s blood (Ann Int
Med. 1983;98:483 484). The Diagnostics Reference Lab was established
as a result of contracts obtained from companies to assist
them in developing and validating their immunoassay products
(Clin Chem 1994;40:1898-1903; J Clin Ligand Assay 1996;19:131-137);
and the PGx Laboratory from our interest in transitioning
the science of pharmacogenetics into clinical laboratory practice
(Clin Chem 1997;43:254-266).
These three laboratory units, along with the University
Hospital, collectively provide a resource for a Postdoctoral
Fellowship Program founded and developed in Louisville
by Dr. Valdes. This program has a number of alumni
who are actively engaged in practicing laboratory medicine
with an emphasis on clinical chemistry and several related
sub-disciplines.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
Throughout these years, Valdes Laboratories has been funded
by extramural grants from the NIH, NSF, American Heart Association,
numerous industrial sources, and support from the School of
Medicine at the University of Louisville. Valdes Laboratories
and its personnel have also been awarded distinctions including
several distinguished scientist awards; honorific lectureships;
awards for originality in research; best poster and abstract
awards, and other recognitions for its science and service.
FUTURE PROJECTS:
The future growth and activities of Valdes Laboratories are
rooted in on-going projects and in its personnel (faculty,
staff and students). Ongoing scientific projects include the
characterization of the endogenous mammalian digitalis- and
ouabain-like factors, their interaction with the sodium pump
(Na, K-ATPase) and their role in disease, particularly in
heart failure. Other projects include understanding the role
of inflammation in genetic regulatory control of drug metabolism;
discovery of biomarkers linked to heart failure and cardiovascular
disease using immunoassays and modern mass-spectrometry techniques
involving proteomics and developing clinical testing strategies
in pharmacogenomics. (For more details please see Research
Section in each laboratory unit)
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Contact:
Rosemary
J. Williams
Administrative Assistant
MDR Bldg., Rm 208
511 S. Floyd St.
Louisville, KY 40292
Tel: (502) 852-1772
Email: rjwill01@gwise.louisville.edu
Dr.
R. Valdes Jr.
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