Bio

B.S. ​Cornell University, 1996M.S. ​University of VirginiaPh.D. ​University of Virginia, Biomedical Engineering Post-Doc ​Internal Medicine residency Stanford University, General cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center, One year research post in cardiovascular MRI Duke Cardiovascular MR Imaging Center

"Dr. Salerno's research involves the development and evaluation of novel MRI techniques to improve the clinical utility of CMR imaging."

Michael Salerno, Associate Professor of Medicine, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering

After receiving his BS in biological engineering from Cornell University, Dr. Salerno came to UVA to pursue his MD degree and PhD in Biomedical Engineering as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. He then completed the American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway completing his Internal Medicine residency at Stanford University, and his general cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. During his time at Duke he completed a dedicated year in cardiovascular MRI at the Duke Cardiovascular MR Imaging Center. He returned to UVA in 2008 to complete a 2-year advanced cardiovascular imaging fellowship where he trained in CMR as well as cardiovascular CTA. He achieved COCATS Level III training in all cardiovascular imaging modalities (Echo, Nuclear, CMR, CCT), and is board certified in Echocardiography and Nuclear Cardiology.

In 2010 he joined the faculty as a clinical investigator in the Cardiovascular Medicine Division and holds joint appointments in Radiology and Biomedical Engineering. His research involves the development and evaluation of novel MRI pulse sequences and techniques to improve the clinical utility of CMR imaging. The current clinical focus of the research is on myocardial perfusion imaging, imaging of myocardial fibrosis and ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction. His laboratory includes undergraduate and graduate engineering students as well as clinical cardiovascular imaging fellows to bring new advances into clinical practice. Dr. Salerno has been in the field of MRI for 16 years and holds multiple patents related to the development and application of novel pulse sequences for MRI. He has received numerous research awards, and has published extensively in the areas of MRI, cardiovascular MRI and multi-modality cardiovascular imaging. His research is supported by the AHA and the National Institutes of health. He is an invited reviewer for over 10 cardiovascular and imaging journals.

Awards

  • Best Doctors in America® List 2015, 2016

Research Interests

  • Medical and Molecular Imaging
  • Signal and Image Processing
  • Cardiovascular Engineering

Selected Publications

  • Seeing the unseen fibrosis in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction., 2014; JACC. Cardiovascular imaging. 7(10) 998-1000. PMID: 25323162 | PMCID: PMC4405248 ABS Salerno M
  • Elevated circulating fibrocyte levels in patients with hypertensive heart disease., 2012; Journal of hypertension. ABS Keeley EC, Mehrad B, Janardhanan R, Salerno M, Hunter JR, Burdick MM, Field JJ, Strieter RM, Kramer CM
  • Prognostic value of late gadolinium enhancement in clinical outcomes for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy., 2012; JACC. Cardiovascular imaging. 5(4) 370-7. ABS Green JJ, Berger JS, Kramer CM, Salerno M
  • Non-invasive imaging and monitoring cardiotoxicity of cancer therapeutic drugs., 2012; Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. 19(2) 377-88. ABS Jiji RS, Kramer CM, Salerno M
  • Optimization of spiral-based pulse sequences for first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging., 2011; Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine / Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 65(6) 1602-10. ABS Salerno M, Sica CT, Kramer CM, Meyer CH
  • Optimization of spiral-based pulse sequences for first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging., 2011; Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine / Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 65(6) 1602-10. ABS Salerno M, Sica CT, Kramer CM, Meyer CH
  • Prevalence and distribution of regional scar in dysfunctional myocardial segments in Duchenne muscular dystrophy., 2011; Journal of cardiovascular magnetic resonance : official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. 13() 20. ABS Bilchick KC, Salerno M, Plitt D, Dori Y, Crawford TO, Drachman D, Thompson WR
  • T₂ -weighted MRI of post-infarct myocardial edema in mice., 2011; Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine / Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 67(1) 201-9 ABS Beyers RJ, Smith RS, Xu Y, Piras BA, Salerno M, Berr SS, Meyer CH, Kramer CM, French BA, Epstein FH
  • Coronary angiographic evaluation of low-risk chest pain in the emergency department CT-STAT, or maybe not quite that fast?, 2011; Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 58(14) 1423-5. ABS Salerno M, Bourque JM, Beller GA
  • The role of cardiac magnetic resonance in the evaluation of patients presenting with suspected or confirmed acute coronary syndrome., 2011; Cardiology research and practice. 2011() 605785. ABS Budge LP, Salerno M
  • Prognosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance: the future looks bright., 2010; Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 56(11) 888-9. ABS Salerno M, Kramer CM
  • Multi-modality imaging of diastolic function., 2010; Journal of nuclear cardiology : official publication of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. 17(2) 316-27. ABS Salerno M
  • Noninvasive assessment of myocardial perfusion., 2009; Circulation. Cardiovascular imaging. 2(5) 412-24. ABS Salerno M, Beller GA
  • Combining spin echoes with gradient echoes in the context of the global coherent free precession pulse sequence., 2007; Magnetic resonance in medicine : official journal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 58(1) 82-91. ABS Rehwald WG, Salerno M, Chen EL, Sievers B, Kim RJ, Judd RM
  • The effects of SNR on ADC measurements in diffusion-weighted hyperpolarized He-3 MRI., 2006; Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997). 185(1) 42-9. ABS O'Halloran RL, Holmes JH, Altes TA, Salerno M, Fain SB
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Featured Grants & Projects

  • Echocardiography Lab Projects

    Dr. Salerno's research involves the development and evaluation of novel MRI pulse sequences and techniques to improve the clinical utility of CMR imaging. The current clinical focus of the research is on myocardial perfusion imaging, imaging of myocardial fibrosis and ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction. The laboratory includes undergraduate and graduate engineering students as well as clinical cardiovascular imaging fellows to bring new advances into clinical practice. Our laboratory’s research involves the development and evaluation of novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pulse sequences and techniques to improve the clinical utility of cardiovascular MRI (CMR). Our lab is an interdisciplinary group which includes undergraduate and graduate engineering students as well as clinical cardiologists and cardiovascular imaging fellows with the goal of bringing new advances into clinical practice. From an engineering perspective we are actively involved in the design and implementation of MRI pulse sequences and the development of new advanced image reconstruction and image processing techniques. The current clinical focus of the research is on myocardial perfusion imaging, imaging of myocardial fibrosis and multi-parametric imaging of ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction. Students in the laboratory benefit from having the opportunity to directly apply new imaging techniques in human subjects, and to work along with physicians to create robust clinically relevant techniques. We also collaborate very closely with other investigators in BME and Cardiology including Dr. Frederick Epstein, Dr. Craig Meyer, Dr. Christopher Kramer and Dr. Kenneth Bilchek.

  • Techniques for Whole-Heart Quantitative Assessment

    Developing improved techniques for whole-heart quantitative assessment of perfusion using spiral k-space pulse sequences and parallel imaging and compressed sensing reconstruction techniques. We are developing robust techniques for adenosine first-pass perfusion stress testing to improve diagnosis of coronary artery disease and to characterize microvascular disease.

  • T1 Mapping Techniques

    Developing and applying T1 mapping techniques to assess diffuse myocardial fibrosis and optimizing strain imaging techniques to assess myocardial function in patients with heart failure with preserved EF (HF-PEF). The goal is to improve the diagnosis of HF-PEF and to guide the development of novel therapies for this disease.

  • Myocardial Infarct Remodeling

    Study myocardial infarct remodeling in a closed-chest porcine model of myocardial infarction. This project utilizes advanced CMR techniques to quantitative characterize the remodeling process with the goal of developing novel therapies to prevent adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure following myocardial infarction.

  • T1 Mapping

    Apply T1 mapping and advanced strain imaging techniques to characterize inflammation, scarring and myocardial function in chemotherapy induced cardiotoxicity.