Rate My Professor Kika Sucharov

Carmen C. Sucharov, known professionally as Kika Sucharov, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She earned her B.S. in Genetics from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in 1990, M.S. in Genetics from the same institution in 1995, and Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. Sucharov completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1998 to 2002 and at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center from 2003 to 2004. Her academic career at the University of Colorado began as Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine from 2004 to 2011, followed by promotion to Associate Professor from 2011 to 2019, during which she also held associate professorships in the Departments of Pharmacology and Physiology. In 2019, she was promoted to full Professor in Medicine, Pharmacology, and Physiology programs. Since 2017, she has served as Director of the Pediatric Cardiovascular Research Laboratories, and since 2023, as Associate Section Head for Research in the Division of Cardiology. Additionally, she directs Graduate Student Admissions for the Integrative Physiology program and chairs the Mentorship Oversight Committee.

Sucharov's research specializes in the molecular mechanisms of heart failure, with a focus on pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy, single ventricle heart disease, microRNAs as biomarkers, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Her laboratory aims to identify novel therapeutic agents by studying pathologic remodeling, gene expression profiles, and circulating factors in failing pediatric hearts. She is Principal Investigator on several NIH R01 grants, including R01 HL156670 on targeting mitochondria in single ventricle heart disease (2021–2026) and R01 HL157973 on cardiac dysfunction after ischemic acute kidney injury (2021–2025), as well as a K24 mentorship award (2019–2024). Sucharov has received the Jay N. Cohn New Investigator Award Finalist honors in 2004 and 2005, the Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award Finalist in 2005 from the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council of the American Heart Association, and Best Paper awards in 2016 and 2017. Key publications include 'miRNA expression in the failing human heart: Functional correlates' (Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 2008), 'Pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy hearts display a unique gene expression profile' (JCI Insight, 2017), 'Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Congenital Heart Disease' (Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 2025), and 'Circulating and Cardiac Tissue miRNAs in Children with Dilated Cardiomyopathy' (Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 2023). Her contributions extend to invited lectures at international conferences and service on grant review panels.