Michael R Rosen MD
Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Pediatrics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, NY; Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Stony Brook University and a member of Stony Brook’s Institute for Molecular Cardiology, Stony Brook, NYDr. Michael R. Rosen is the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Pediatrics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York. He is also Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at Stony Brook University and a member of Stony Brook’s Institute for Molecular Cardiology.
Dr. Rosen received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in 1960 and the Doctor of Medicine degree from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in 1964. He subsequently trained in internal medicine and cardiology at Montefiore Hospital in New York, served in the United States Air Force and then as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at Columbia University. He joined the faculty of that department in 1972 and has remained there throughout his career.
Dr. Rosen has authored or co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts. His research interests initially focused on the electrophysiology and pharmacologic prevention and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. In the 1970s he and his colleagues identified afterdepolarizations as an important cause of cardiac arrhythmias and studied the mechanisms and clinical implications of triggered activity, work that has had major clinical impact. Other areas of investigation explored by Dr. Rosen and associates are developmental changes in ion channels and the autonomic nervous system; the mechanisms whereby altered activation of the heart temporarily or permanently induces epigenetic changes in molecular-biophysical pathways that alter the expression of repolarization; and gene and stem cell therapies. The most advanced aspect of the latter research is on biological pacing, where creation of an alternative to electronic pacing is being sought. This work has been supported by a number of granting agencies over the years, with the major source being a Program Project Grant funded by NHLBI for 25 years. In 2013, Dr. Rosen terminated all his administrative responsibilities and has focused since that time on teaching and on advising regarding research and development.