Ilka Pinz

Dr. Ilka Pinz is a Faculty Scientist II at the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (University of Maine) and Director of the Small Animal Imaging Core at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute (MMCRI). Her research focuses on cardiac pathology in obesity, sphingolipid metabolism, and cell signaling in cardiac caveolae.

• Education
  • BS/MS: Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
  • PhD: Physiology & Biochemistry, Alfred Wegener Institute/University of Bremen, Germany
  • Postdoc: Harvard Medical School

Dr. Pinz employs transgenic mouse models and imaging technologies (MRI, micro-ultrasound, µCT) to study how lipid-induced signaling changes affect myocardial energetics and contractile performance. Her work has significant implications for understanding obesity-related cardiac dysfunction and metabolic syndrome.

Notable trends in her publications include studies on caveolin-3 and sphingolipid pathways (2011-2016), genetic mouse models (2008-2019), and angiogenesis in ischemic disease. Recent work (2022-2024) explores thyroid hormone interactions and Rab27a in adipose tissue.

Dr. Pinz has served as a reviewer for the American Heart Association (2006-2008) and leads a state-of-the-art Small Animal Imaging Core facility with expertise in in vivo imaging technologies.