Department of Medicine
University of Wisconsin
JOHN D FOLTS
Contact Information
1300 UNIVERSITY AVE
MADISON, WI 53706
Biography
Director, Coronary Thrombosis Research and Prevention Laboratory
John Folts earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in cardiovascular physiology and pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then joined the Department of Medicine's Cardiology Division in 1973. He holds an adjunct appointment in the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences.
Folts' research interests center on vascular biology and the interaction between platelets, dysfunctional endothelium and the mechanisms precipitating coronary thrombosis. In the early 1970s, while a graduate student, he developed a unique animal model of coronary artery stenosis with intimal damage. Using this model, he was the first to demonstrate acutely forming platelet aggregates, without fibrin involvement, could produce total coronary occlusion and sudden death. In 1973 he also used this model to show aspirin could significantly inhibit such in vivo thrombosis.
Folts continues to study mechanisms involved in platelet interactions with damaged arterial walls, the role of nitric oxide, and the use of dietary flavonoids to inhibit platelet activity and improve endothelial function in animals and patients with coronary artery disease. His research has been funded by eight National Institutes of Health/USDA grants, four American Heart Association grants and eight grants from corporate sponsors. He holds five patents related to the use of nitric oxide adducts to coat stents and other blood-contacting surfaces.
Through the years Folts has mentored 20 graduate students, six post-doctoral and cardiology fellows and directed the published research of 18 pre-medical students. He and his students received two Hilldale student/faculty awards and one Knapp-Brittingham student/faculty award.
He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and the Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis.
Search for John Folts' literature abstracts on PubMed
Coller BS, Smith SR, Scudder LE, Jordon R, Folts JD. Abolition of in vivo platelet thrombus formation in primates with monoclonal antibodies to the platelet GPIIb/IIIa receptor: Correlation with bleeding time, platelet aggregation, and blockade of GPIIb/IIIa receptors. Circulation 1989; 80:1766-1774.
Folts JD. An in vivo model of experimental arterial stenosis, intimal damage, and periodic thrombosis. Circulation Suppl 4 1991; 83(6):3-14.
Folts JD, Schaefer AI, Loscalzo J, Willerson JT, Muller JE. Potential problems with aspirin as an antithrombotic agent: A comparison with an animal model and clinical trials. J Am Coll Cardiol 1999; 33(2)295-303.
Stein JH, Keevil JG, Aeschlimann S, Folts JD. Purple grape juice improves endothelial function and reduces the susceptibility of LDL cholesterol to oxidation in patients with coronary artery disease. Circulation 1999; 100:1050-1055.
Folts JD, Loscalzo J. Coating arterial and blood contacting surfaces with NO donating compounds. "In Contemporary Cardiology, vol. 4 : Nitric Oxide and the Cardiovascular System." J . Loscalzo and J. Vita (ed). Humana Press, Iotowa, NJ, 2002.