Amparo C. Villablanca, M.D.

Clinical/Research Interests

Dr. Villablanca's clinical interests focus on heart disease in women, health care outcomes for women, health disparities, gender-based medicine and translational research (soy, natural estrogens and heart disease protection). Her basic research interests include the molecular biology of sex hormone and sex steroid hormone receptor vascular protection and the regulation of atherosclerosis susceptibility. Dr. Villablanca's philosophy of care is woman-centered, and culturally sensitive, with respect for each patient.

Title:

Director, Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program, Professor and Lazda Endowed Chair, Women's Cardiovascular Medicine, Associate Director, Women's Center for Health

Specialty:

Cardiovascular Medicine, Cardiology, Internal Medicine

Center/Program Affiliation:

Cardiovascular Services, UC Davis Medical Group, Women's Center for Health

Address:

Lawrence J. Ellison Ambulatory Care Center
4860 Y St., Suite 0200
Sacramento, CA 95817

Phone:

(916) 734-1966

Other Languages:

French, Spanish

Education:

UC Davis School of Medicine
Sacramento, California
M.D. 1983

UCLA
Los Angeles, California
B.S. 1979

Internships:

UC Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, California
1983-1984

Residency:

UC Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, California
1983-86
Internal Medicine

Fellowships:

UC Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, California
1987-90
Cardiovascular Medicine

Board Certifications:

American Board of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, 1993
American Board of Internal Medicine, 1987

Professional Memberships:

American Heart Association (Fellow, Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Council)
Mouse Biology Program (UC Davis)
National Heart Blood and Lung Institute (National Spokeswoman and West Coast Partner)

Honors and Awards:

(Philip Morris) Cigarette Smoke, Ultrafine Particle Exposure, Chlamydia Pneumoniae and Atherosclerosis. The goal of this project is to understand the molecular and functional consequence of Chlamydia Pneumoniae infection and smoke exposure on the complexity of vascular atheroma in Apo E knockout mice., 2007-2010
(Howard Hughes Medical Institute) Integrating Medicine into the Basic Science Program. This award supports UC Davis School of Medicine training of basic scientists to develop a better understanding of clinical medicine with the goal of fostering the translation of basic science discoveries into new medical treatments., 2006-2010
(Department of Health and Human Services - Region IX) The Heart Truth Community Partnership Initiative. This award supports the development of a Heart Truth, Heart Care Education and Awareness Forum for leaders of community organizations that serve ethnic minority women., 2006-2007
(Endowment) The Frances Lazda Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine. This endowment supports Dr. Villablanca as the Director of the UC Davis Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program and program activities in education, clinical care, outreach and research., 2005-indef
(National Institutes of Health) Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH). The BIRCWH Program award to the UC Davis School of Medicine provides junior faculty with state-of-the-art multidisciplinary training that will ensure their establishment of independent biomedical research careers in areas relevant to women's health. A second objective of this program is to create an environment that nurtures non-traditional cross-disciplinary collaborations in focused and interactive research areas essential to improving the health of women., 2005-2010
(Department of Health and Human Services) Improving, Enhancing and Evaluating Outcomes of Comprehensive Heart Health-Care Programs in High-Risk Women. The goal of this project is to demonstrate the UC Davis Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Program as a model women’s heart program for comprehensive care and attaining evidence-based clinical outcomes in high-risk women. Lifestyle intervention and behavioral and clinical strategies will be developed, and clinical, knowledge and risk awareness of cardiovascular outcomes will be evaluated., 2005-2006
(Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation) Women’s Cardiovascular Medicine Education Initiatives. This award supports continuing medical education programs in women’s cardiovascular medicine topics for health professionals., 2005-2006
(Department of Health and Human Services - Region IX) The Heart Truth Special Populations Community Partnership Initiative. This award supports a community women’s heart health educational event targeting ethnic minority women in DHHS Region IX., 2005
Fellow, Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program, National Center of Leadership in Academic Medicine, MCP Hahnemann University, 2000-2001
Woman of Achievement in Medicine, Capital Business and Professional Women Association, Sacramento, California, 2000
Member, Physiology Graduate Group, UC Davis, 1999-Pres.
Research Scientist Development Award, National Institutes of Health, 1999-2004
Executive Steering Committee, Women's Center for Health, UC Davis, 1997-Pres.
Appointee, Advisory Council of the State Office of Women's Health, California Department of Health Services, and Chair, Cardiovascular Technical Advisory Group, 1994-Pres.

Select Recent Publications:

Villablanca, A. C., Beckett, L.A., Li ,Y., Leatherwood, S., Gill, S.K., Giardina, E.V., Barron, C., Foody, J.M., Haynes, S., D'Onofrio, G. Outcomes of comprehensive heart care programs in high-risk women. Journal of Women's Health, 2010;19(7): 1313-1325.

Villablanca, A.C., Muthuvel, J., Banka, C. Atherosclerosis and sex hormones: Current concepts. Invited Review. Clinical Science, 2010;119(12): 495-513.

Villablanca, A. C., Pinkerton, K.E., Rutledge, J.C. Maternal and neonatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke increases pro-inflammatory genes in neonatal arteries. Journal Cardiovascular Translational Research, 2010 Oct 2(Epub: ahead of print).

Bukkapatnam, R.N., Berglund, L., Anuurad, E., Devaraj, S., Hyson, D., Rafii, F., Malmstein, C., Villablanca, A. C. Postprandial metabolic responses to dietary glycemic index in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women. Preventive Cardiology, 2009;13(1): 29-35.

Foody, J.M., Villablanca, A. C., Giardina, E.V., Gill, S., Taylor, A.L., Leatherwood, S., Haynes, S.G., D'Onofrio, G. The office on women's health initiative to improve women's heart health: Program description, site characteristics and lessons learned. Journal of Women's Health, 2009;19(3): 507-516.

Villablanca, A. C., Arline, S., Lewis, J., Raju, S., Sanders, S., Carrow, S. Outcomes of national community organization cardiovascular prevention

Villablanca, A. C., Tenwolde, A., Lee, M., Huck, M., Mumenthaler, S., Rutledge, J.C. 17ß estradiol prevents early stage atherosclerosis in estrogen receptor-alpha deficient female mice. Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, 2009;2: 289-299.

Villablanca, A.C., Baxi, H., and Anderson, K. Novel Data Interface for Evaluating Cardiovascular Outcomes in Women. Handbook of Research on Information Technology Management and Clinical Administration in Healthcare. Dwivedi, A. (ed). IGI Publishing 1,142 pp; May 2009.

Corbacho, AM, Eiserich, JP, Zuniga, LA, Valacchi, G, Cross, CE, and Villablanca, AC. Compromised Aortic Vasoreactivity in Male Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Deficient Mice During Acute Lipopolyssacharide-Induced Inflammation. Encocrinology. Mar;148(3):1403-11, 2007.

Benton, J., Powers, A., Eiselein, L., Fitch, R., Wilson, D., Villablanca, A.C., and Rutledge. J.C. Hyperglycemia and loss of ovarian hormones mediate atheroma formation through endothelial layer disruption and increased permeability. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. Feb;292(2):R723-30, 2007.

Amparo C. Villablanca is currently accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment, please call (916) 734-1966