Patrick Lacolley is specialized in cardiology and entered Inserm in 1987. He rapidly developed a particular interest for cellular and molecular determinants of arterial stiffness in hypertension, ageing, arterial thrombosis and heart failure.
Since January 2005, he is director of the Inserm UMR_S 1116 which is devoted to the “Acute and chronic cardiovascular deficiency”, with expertise in molecular and cell biology and experimental animal models. The major findings concern (1) vascular smooth muscle cells as major determinants of arterial stiffness; (2) integrin-mediated membrane mechanotransduction in vascular remodeling, (3) natural connexions between arterial wall and coagulation.