Faculty Profile

Harvard Thorndike Electrophysiology Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Our research is focused on neural, behavioral, and environmental triggers of sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias. The laboratory specializes in computerized analysis of electrocardiographic markers, especially T-wave alternans, a beat-to-beat fluctuation in the area and form of the T-wave of the ECG. We demonstrated that T-wave alternans provides an index of vulnerability to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias as well as a means to identify individuals at risk and to measure the efficacy of pharmacologic therapy. Current investigations include neural triggers of sudden death during ischemia, anger, REM sleep, and exposure to environmental air particles. Our research has led to a novel technique for selective delivery of angiogenic and myogenic factors to the heart via the pericardial sac. This technology provides a natural interface between molecular and integrative biology

Bruce D. Nearing, PhD; Ward Casscells III, MD; Julie A. Kovach, MD; Peter R. Kowey, MD; Kapil Kumar, MD; Bruce T. Liang, MD; Federico Lombardi, MD;
Panos Papageorgiou, MD, PhD; Todd Pulerwitz, MD; Ernst A. Raeder, MD;
Gregory Wellenius, DSc; Susan X. Zhao, MD

NIH/NHLBI
NIH/NIEHS
Industrial grants

Harvard College Science B-23, Cardiovascular lectures

Nearing BD, Huang AH, Verrier RL. Dynamic tracking of cardiac vulnerability by complex demodulation of the T-wave.
Science 1991;252:437-40.

Dickerson LW, Huang AH, Nearing BD, Verrier RL. Primary coronary vasodilation associated with pauses in heart rhythm during sleep.
Am J Physiol 1993;264: R186-96.

Dickerson LW, Huang AH, Thurnher MM, Nearing BD, Verrier RL. Relationship between coronary hemodynamic changes and the phasic events of rapid eye movement in sleep.
Sleep 1993;16:550-7.

Kovach JA, Gottdiener JS, Verrier RL. Vagal modulation of epicardial coronary artery size in dogs. A two-dimensional intravascular ultrasound study.
Circulation 1995;92:2291-8.

Lavery CE, Mittleman MA, Cohen MC, Muller JE, Verrier RL. Nonuniform nighttime distribution of acute cardiac events: a possible effect of sleep states.
Circulation 1997;96:3321-7.

Verrier RL, Lau RT, Wallooppillai U, Quattrochi J, Nearing BD, Moreno R, Hobson JA. Primary vagally mediated decelerations in heart rate during tonic rapid eye movement sleep in cats.
Am J Physiol 1998;43:R1136-41.

Verrier RL, Waxman S, Lovett EG, Moreno R. Transatrial access to the normal pericardial space: a novel approach for diagnostic sampling, pericardiocentesis, and therapeutic interventions.
Circulation 1998;98:2331-3.

Rowe K, Moreno R, Lau RT, Wallooppillai U, Nearing BD, Kocsis B, Quattrochi J, Hobson JA, Verrier RL. Heart rate surges during REM sleep are associated with theta rhythm and PGO activity in cats.
Am J Physiol 1999;277:R843-9.

Gold DR, Litonjua A, Schwartz J, Lovett E, Larson A, Nearing B, Allen G, Verrier M, Cherry R, Verrier R. Ambient pollution and heart rate variability.
Circulation 2000; 101:1267-73.

Kovach JA, Nearing BD, Verrier RL. An angerlike behavioral state potentiates myocardial ischemia-induced T-wave alternans in canines.
J Am Coll Cardiol 2001; 37:1719-1725.

Nearing BD, Verrier RL. Modified moving average method for T-wave alternans analysis with high accuracy to predict ventricular fibrillation.
J Appl Physiol 2002;92:541-549.

Nearing BD, Verrier RL. Progressive increases in complexity of T-wave oscillations herald ischemia-induced VF.
Circ Res 2002;91:727-732.

Wellenius GA, Coull BA, Godleski JJ, Koutrakis P, Okabe K, Savage ST, Lawrence JE, Krishna Murthy GG, Verrier RL. Inhalation of concentrated ambient air particles exacerbates myocardial ischemia in conscious dogs.
Environmental Health Perspectives 2003;111:402-408.

Kumar K, Nguyen K, Waxman S, Nearing BD, Wellenius G, Zhao SX, Verrier RL. Potent antifibrillatory effects of intrapericardial nitroglycerin in the ischemic porcine heart.
J Am Coll Cardiol 2003;41:1831-1837.

Verrier RL, Nearing BD, LaRovere MT, Pinna GD, Mittleman MA, Bigger JT, Schwartz PJ for the ATRAMI Investigators. Ambulatory ECG-based tracking of T-wave alternans in post-myocardial infarction patients to assess risk of cardiac arrest or arrhythmic death.
J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2003;14:705-711.

Verrier RL, Antzelevitch CA. Autonomic aspects of arrhythmogenesis: the enduring and the new.
Current Opinion in Cardiology 2004;19:2-11.

Kop WJ, Krantz DS, Nearing BD, Gottdiener JS, Quigley JF, O'Callahan M, Delnegro AA, Friehling TD, Karasik P, Suchday S, Levine J, Verrier RL. Effects of acute mental and exercise stress on T-wave alternans in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators and controls.
Circulation 2004;109:1864-1869.

Verrier RL, Nearing BD, Kwaku KF. Noninvasive sudden death risk stratification by ambulatory ECG-based T-wave alternans analysis: evidence and methodological guidelines.
Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology 2005;10:110-120.

Verrier RL, Kwaku KF, Nearing BD, Josephson ME. T-wave alternans: Does size matter?
J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2005;16:225-228.

Gold DR, Litonjua AA, Zanobetti A, Coull BA, Schwartz J, MacCallum G, Verrier RL, Nearing BD, Canner MJ, Suh H, Stone PH. Air Pollution and ST-segment depression in elderly subjects.
Environmental Health Perspectives 2005;113:883-887.

Dockery DW, Luttmann-Gibson H, Rich DQ, Link MS, Mittleman MA, Gold DR, Koutrakis P, Schwartz JD, Verrier RL. Association of air pollution with increased incidence of ventricular tachyarrhythmias recorded by implanted cardioverter defibrillators.
Environmental Health Perspectives 2005;113:1-5