Dr. Drakos’s research interests are focused on cardiac recovery associated with unloading and mechanical support in the chronic heart failure (HF) setting and the acute setting (i.e. acute HF/cardiogenic shock). Dr. Drakos’s team is utilizing clinical and biological information derived from studies in humans and small or large animal HF models to understand and enhance myocardial recovery. Dr. Drakos’s NIH-funded team is housed at the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute-CVRTI. Original work generated by Dr. Drakos’s team in the clinical arena and in his lab led to the establishment of the award-winning multidisciplinary Utah Cardiac Recovery Program-UCAR. To further advance the field of cardiac recovery Dr. Drakos is co-directing the annual international Utah Cardiac Recovery Symposium (UCARS). Along the same lines Dr. Drakos is co-chairing the NIH/NHLBI Working Group on Myocardial Recovery– simultaneous publication at the official journals of the American College Cardiology, Heart Failure Society of America, American Society of Artificial Internal Organs and the American Association of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Drakos and his mentees have received over the years extensive extramural research funding and competitive scientific medical awards.

Drakos Lab