SMDS research update with Dr. Milewicz

May 2022 – Dr. Dianna Milewicz provides an update on research progress for Smooth Muscle Cell Dysfunction (SMDS) patients and answers questions.

Dr. Milewicz and her team first identified ACTA2 mutations as a cause of aortic and vascular disease in 2005. Later, in 2010 she discovered the cause of Smooth Muscle Dysfunction Syndrome. Her laboratory has published extensively on SMDS and has operated a registry for patients with the condition since 2015.

Dianna M. Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., is the President George H.W. Bush Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine, Director of the Division of Medical Genetics and Vice-Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).