Cindy Martin, M.D.

Cindy Martin (cmmartin@umn.edu) is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division. She completed her residency, general cardiology fellowship, and advanced heart failure/transplantation fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She also completed a formal three-year postdoctoral research fellowship in molecular cardiology in Dr. Daniel Garry’s lab at UT Southwestern, prior to his move to the University of Minnesota. Dr. Martin joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 2007, and was appointed Director of Heart Failure and Transplantation in 2015. In addition to advanced heart failure and transplantation, Dr. Martin’s clinical interests include congenital, genetic, and acquired cardiac conditions in older adolescents and adults. Working in partnership with pediatric cardiology, Dr. Martin established the University of Minnesota Adult Congenital and Cardiovascular Genetics Clinic. Dr. Martin’s clinical practice includes many adult patients with congenital heart disease who have developed heart failure. With this patient population in mind, she created an adult congenital and cardiovascular genetics registry, and has also focused her research on the molecular regulation of cardiac progenitor cell populations. Dr. Martin’s basic-science research interests involve understanding the molecular networks regulating cardiac progenitors, include side-population (SP) cells and their role in cardiovascular development and regeneration. Dr. Martin’s laboratory demonstrated that the Abcg2-expressing cardiac SP-cell population can proliferate, differentiate into multiple cardiac lineages, and is capable of participating in myocardial regeneration. Dr. Martin’s research uses mouse models and embryonic stem cells to study the transcriptional regulation of cardiac progenitor cells. Her laboratory has identified transcription factors downstream of Nkx2-5, including Etv2 and Sox7, which are critical for endothelial progenitors-cell specification. Current research in Dr. Martin’s lab is focused on understanding the transcriptional and signaling networks of Sox7, including interaction with NKx2-5 and Gata4. Recently, Dr. Martin initiated a project to understand postnatal right-ventricle development through transcriptomic and proteomic analysis in a large-animal model. Data from this research will be used to develop models of right-heart failure and test pharmacological targets.

Dr. Martin’s recent publications include: