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Bauer Sumpio, MD, PhD, FACS

Professor of Surgery (Vascular) and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Medicine (Cardiology)
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Additional Titles

Associate Director, Graduate Medical Education

About

Titles

Professor of Surgery (Vascular) and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging and of Medicine (Cardiology)

Associate Director, Graduate Medical Education

Biography

Dr. Bauer Sumpio received his medical degree and his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1981 from Cornell University Medical College in New York. He was involved in post-graduate training in General Surgery at Yale University and from 1986 to 1987 he underwent fellowship training in Vascular Surgery at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Sumpio then returned to Yale School of Medicine, Section of Vascular Surgery, as a faculty member at the VA Connecticut. His professional society memberships include the American Surgical Association, International College of Angiology, Society for Vascular Surgery, American College of Cardiology, Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology, American College of Surgeons, Society for University Surgeons, European Society for Vascular Surgery, Biomedical Engineering Society, American Heart Association and the American Physiological Society. He is a past Chair of the Research Council of the Society for Vascular Surgery and Secretary of the Association of Program Directors of Vascular Surgery. He has been on the editorial board of several journals, including the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Journal of American College of Surgeons, and Cell Transplantation. He has had continuous research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Administration and the American Heart Association since 1988 for his studies on the role of hemodynamics and vascular disease. He has published over 345 peer-reviewed papers and has edited and authored 4 books on vascular surgery and biology. Dr. Sumpio is the proud recipient of many prestigious honors and awards such as Best Doctor in NY 2006-2016 -- just to name a few.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Fellow
University of North Carolina, North Carolina Memorial Hospital, Chapel Hill, NC (1987)
Resident
Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT (1986)
PhD
Cornell University (1981)
MD
Cornell University (1980)

Research

Overview

The Vascular Surgery Research Laboratories are conducting studies on the role of hemodynamic forces in influencing the biology of the vascular wall. Dr. Bauer Sumpio and his team are specifically interested in the role of strain and pressure in modulating endothelial cell and smooth cell growth, morphology and production of vasoactive molecules and mitogens.

They are currently focused on the signal transduction pathways which couple the external force stimuli and the cytoplasmic and nuclear responses.

Dr. Sumpio have developed and characterized an instrument for exerting repetitive tensional deformation on cells in culture. Cells are grown on special culture plates with bottoms made of flexible silastic but coated with a hydrophilic surface. The culture dishes are placed over vacuum portsand the membrane bottoms are deformed to a given strain by the application of a vacuum. The vacuum is regulated by solenoid valves which are controlled by a computer program. Thus, Dr. Sumpio has managed to subject cells to different force regimens by varying the amplitude, frequency and duration of a deformation. Using this apparatus, he has shown that the phenotypic expression of both endothelial cells and smooth cells are altered with cyclic strain compared to the stationary state. Cell growth, morphology, production of growth factors and inhibitors, substances involved in coagulation, blood vessel vasamotor tone and extra-cellular-matrix elements are altered.

However, very little is known about the mechanism of transduction of the mechanical signals that induce gene transcription in responsive cells. The major impetus in this field has been to define the mechanosensor(s)' on the cells that are sensitive to the different external forces, the coupling intracellular pathways and the subsequentnuclear events which precede the cell response.

Recent work in Dr. Sumpio's laboratory has demonstrated the involvement of the phosphoinositol/protein kinase C and cAMP/protein kinase A pathways, activation of the fos and jun family of oncogenes and the involvement of the transcription factors AP-1, NF-kB and CRE with the initiation of cyclic strain or with an acute change cyclic strain frequency. They are currently attempting to determine the events which occur subsequently in the cell nucleus to induce transcriptional initiation.

Dr. Sumpio and and his team's underlying hypothesis is that the molecular basis of cellular events which occur in response to mechanical forces depends upon the establishment of specific patterns of gene expression achieved through a network both ubiquitous and tissue specific transcriptional regulatory proteins. They plan to define the necessary and sufficient promoter sequences involved in the regulation of gene transcription in cultured endothelial cells exposed to cyclic strain.

The upstream promoter for the human tPA gene is used as a model for these experiments. The group speculates that there are cyclic strain responsive promoter elements (CSRE). Whether the CSRE are similar to those activated with chemical agonists or whether there are ''novel'' elements remain to be determined.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Atherosclerosis; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Diabetic Foot; Education, Medical; Hemodynamics; Peripheral Vascular Diseases; Vascular Surgical Procedures; Wound Healing

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Bauer Sumpio's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2022

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Clinical Care

Overview

Bauer Sumpio, MD, PhD, is a vascular surgeon who specializes in the care of patients with diseases of their arteries and veins. He engages in the limb salvage of people with diabetes who are at risk for losing their legs to their diabetic complications. He has decades of experience improving quality of life for patients with plaque build-up in major blood vessels which hinder flow to the critical organs, such as the kidneys, intestine (mesenteric ischemia), legs (claudication and critical limb ischemia) and brain (carotid artery disease).

According to Dr. Sumpio, vascular surgery has become a much less invasive procedure in recent years. He gives credit to the development of endovascular therapeutic techniques, which allow doctors to treat problems from inside the affected blood vessel. Surgeons are able to operate through small punctures of an artery, using tiny, flexible tubes, called catheters, to access the blood vessels. “This means we can fix things from the inside without having to open up the abdomen, chest or neck,” Dr. Sumpio says. These techniques are useful not only in opening up blockages in the artery with a balloon or stent but also for repair of abnormal weakening of the walls of the artery (aneurysm). “Most important for the patient is to have a surgeon who is not only skilled in these endovascular interventions but is capable of performing open surgical procedures when it is appropriate and indicated.”

Other conditions that Dr. Sumpio is skilled in treating include varicose veins using minimal invasive procedures such as laser or radio-frequency to remove dysfunctional veins or varicose veins.

Over his many years of caring for patients, Dr. Sumpio says he has come to understand that “the most important quality a physician can have is compassion. Once a patient trusts you, they understand you will make the best decision in their interest.”

As a professor of vascular surgery at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Sumpio has also performed basic research on blood flow and how it can affect the vascular wall.

Clinical Specialties

Vascular & Endovascular Surgery

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Vascular Surgery

    Certification Organization
    AB of Surgery
    Latest Certification Date
    2020
    Original Certification Date
    1990
  • Surgery General

    Certification Organization
    AB of Surgery
    Latest Certification Date
    2020
    Original Certification Date
    1988

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Locations

  • Boardman Building

    Academic Office

    330 Cedar Street

    New Haven, CT 06510

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