Sumita Mishra

Sumita Mishra, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech's Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Her research focuses on cardiometabolic diseases, particularly Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF), exploring cGMP-PKG signaling pathways and phosphodiesterase (PDE) modulation. She holds appointments in the Center for Exercise Medicine Research and Center for Vascular and Heart Research.

Education includes a PhD in Molecular Cardiology from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, MS in Genetic Engineering from Calcutta University, and BS in Microbiology. Her career spans postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University, where she investigated cardiac signaling mechanisms.

Key research interests include sex-based differences in HFpEF, mitochondrial dysfunction, and therapeutic applications of PDE inhibitors. Major awards include the 2021 AHA Career Development Award and 2020 W. Leigh Thompson Excellence in Research Award. She serves on editorial boards for journals like BMC Cardiovascular Disorders and reviews for high-impact publications.

Her lab studies molecular mechanisms linking obesity, metabolic syndrome, and heart failure, with recent work on PDE9 inhibition's role in fat metabolism. Collaborative projects emphasize translating findings to lifestyle interventions and novel therapies.