Guy Salama, PhD

Dr. Guy Salama is a Professor within the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  Dr. Salama holds a BS in Physics (1968) from the City College of New York and a MS in Physics (1971) from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1997, he was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Salama is actively involved in both academics and research, and has focused his efforts on the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for the initiation and termination of cardiac arrhythmias. Dr. Salama first arrived at the university as an Assistant Professor within the Department of Physiology in 1980. By 1987, he was an Associate Professor within the department, and by 1995 he was an Associate Professor within the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. In 1999, he was appointed to the position of Professor within the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology. Throughout his career, Dr. Salama has been a member of several professional and scientific societies. Currently, he resides as a member of the Biophysical Society, Marine Biological Laboratory (member of the corporation), and the Basic Science Council of the American Heart Association.  He is also a Fellow of the American Heart Association (1999) and the Heart Rhythm Society (2010). For both his academic and research efforts, Dr. Salama is the author/co-author of many publications and was the recipient of multiple awards. He was a Fellow of the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 1979-1980 and the recipient of the Steps Towards Independence Award from the Marine Biological Laboratory in 1980. From 1984-1989, he was awarded the Research Career Development Award (RDCA) from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and in 1991, he was the recipient of the James Shannon Award from the NIH.  In 2003, he was the Chairman/Organizer of the Gordon Research Conference: Cardiac Arrhythmia Mechanisms. Within his laboratory, Dr. Salama is working on:

• Cardiac electrophysiology
• Arrhythmia mechanisms
• Excitation contraction coupling
• Optical mapping of voltage, calcium, K⁺, and Na⁺
• Genetically encoded probes (Vm and Cai)
• Sex differences in ion channel expression
• Factors that modulate the risk of Long QT-related Torsade dePointes
• Cardioprotective actions of Relaxin

View a list of Dr. Salama’s publications here.