Dr. Roberto Levi
Dr. Roberto Levi was born and raised in Italy where he obtained an MD degree and a DSc in Pharmacology from the University of Florence. He did his Postdoctoral training in Pharmacology for two years at Johns Hopkins University Medical School as a Fulbright Scholar. He has spent his entire academic career at Cornell Medical College as a cardiovascular pharmacologist, concentrating his activities in research and teaching. The general research theme of the Levi Lab is the role of endogenous modulators of cardiac adrenergic function. Among these modulators, Dr. Levi has focused on the renin-angiotensin system in the heart and on the role of histamine in cardiac function and dysfunction. He is presently serving as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Dr. Nahid Seyedi   
I was awarded a PhD in Physiology at New York Medical College in 1994. I then joined Dr. Levi's lab as a Postdoctoral Associate. I am presently a Research Associate.  I developed a technique for the isolation of sympathetic nerve endings from the heart (cardiac synaptosomes). In this model, I investigate the role of various endogenous substances that modulate norepinephrine release from cardiac nerves. Among these substances, I studied the effects of histamine, bradykinin and angiotensin. Presently, I am focusing on the inhibitory role of histamine H₃-receptors and their transductional pathways.  Prevention of norepinephrine release by activation of H₃-receptors on sympathetic nerve terminals is cardioprotective in the ischemic heart.