Physician Venture Partners
John M. Lasala, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is also Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Director of Interventional Cardiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Lasala has written numerous abstracts, reviews, and articles for such journals as American Journal of Cardiology, Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He has lectured internationally on interventional cardiology and his honors include the Outstanding Cardiology Alumnus Award from Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Lasala received his Ph.D. from St. Louis University and his medical degree from the University of Connecticut. He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine. Following completion of his residency, he served a post-doctoral fellowship in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Lasala is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He is a fellow of the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions.
Marc S. Penn, M.D., Ph.D., is a staff cardiologist in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He is also the Medical Director of the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Director of the Bakken Heart-Brain Institute, Director of the Experimental Animal Laboratory and Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship in the Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Cell Biology. Dr. Penn is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine. He has a special interest in myocardial ischemia, vascular biology, cardiac critical care and stem cell and gene therapy for the regeneration of myocardial function. Dr. Penn has an academic appointment at Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is the recipient of a number of research grants and numerous awards including the 2006 Innovator of the Year Award from the Cleveland Clinic. He is the co-founder of two companies: PrognostiX Inc., a company based on Cleveland Clinic intellectual property on cardiovascular biomarkers linked to inflammation, and RegenRx Medical Systems that is based on intellectual property from his laboratory on molecular pathways involved in stem cell recruitment to the heart. Dr. Penn has been an invited lecturer at international symposiums and conferences and is author or co-author of numerous published articles, abstracts and book chapters on a wide range of topics within the field of cardiology.