Department of Surgery »  Faculty »  Vascular Surgery »  Christopher Owens, M.D.
 
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Department of Surgery »  Faculty »  Vascular Surgery »  Christopher Owens, M.D.

Christopher D. Owens, M.D., M.Sc.

Assistant Professor of Surgery
Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery

Contact Information

Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, UCSF
400 Parnassus Avenue, A-6110
San Francisco, CA 94143-0957
Phone: (415) 353-2357
Fax: (415) 353-2669

Education

  • 1986-1990, Indiana University, B.S., Chemistry/Biology
  • 1994-1998, Indiana University, M.D.
  • 2005-2007, Harvard Medical School, M.Sc.

Residencies

  • 1998-1999, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, Intern, General Surgery
  • 1999-2003, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Resident, General Surgery

Fellowships

  • 2003-2004, St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Clinical Fellowship, Vascular Medicine and Endovascular Surgery
  • 2004-2006, Brigham and Women's Hospital, John Homans Fellow, Vascular and endovascular Surgery

Postdoctoral Training

Board Certification

  • American Board of Surgery, 2006
  • American Board of Surgery, Vascular Surgery, 2008

Program Affiliations

Research Interests

  • Exploring novel drugs or biologics designed to prevent vein graft failure and restenosis after angioplasty and stenting
  • Temporal sequence of the physiological, biomechanical, and biochemical changes during vein graft healing
  • Vein graft endothelial function

Biography

Dr. Christopher Owens received his undergraduate and medical degree from Indiana University. He went on to complete a general surgery residency and vascular surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. In addition, he completed a clinical fellowship in vascular medicine and endovascular surgery from St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston, MA.

Dr. Owens' clinical interests include peripheral artery disease (PAD), thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms, carotid artery disease, and dialysis access procedues. He is particularly interested in lower extremity limb revascularization for patients with PAD and critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Research Summary

Dr. Owens' research is focused on exploring novel drugs or biologics designed to prevent vein graft failure and restenosis after angioplasty and stenting. He is pursuing a better understanding of the factors that modify vein graft remodeling to the arterial environment, and a better appreciation of adaptive physiology and healing kinetics. Dr. Owens hopes to gain insights into the temporal sequence of the physiological, biomechanical and biochemical challenges during veing graft healing. He is currently the PI of an NIH-funded research project studying endothelial function and vein graft remodeling.

Clinical Trials

Dexamethasone Infusion to the Adventitia to Enhance Clinical Efficacy After Femoropopliteal Revascularization
Study ID: 10-02101 (DANCE)
Endothelial Function and Arterio-Venous Fistula Maturation
Study ID: 10-02538 (EFAVF)
Endothelial Function and Vein Graft Remodeling
Study ID: 10-02338 (EFVGR)

Selected Publications

  1. Owens CD, Ridker PA, Belkin M, Hamdan AD, Pomposelli F, LoGerfo FW, Nguyen LL, Creager MA, Conte MS. Elevated C-reactive protein levels are associated with postoperative events in patients undergoing lower extremity vein bypass surgery. J Vasc Surg 2007;45:2-9.
    PubMed
  2. Owens CD, Rybicki FJ, Wake N, Schanzer A, Ifantides C, Mitsouras D, Mulkern RV, Gerhard-Herman MD, Belkin M, Creager MA, Conte MS. Early remodeling of lower extremity vein grafts: Inflammation influences biomechanical adaptation. J Vasc Surg 2008; 47 (6): 1235-1242.
    PubMed
  3. Ho KJ, Owens CD, Longo T, Sui XX, Ifantides C, Conte MS. C-reactive protein and vein graft disease: evidence for a direct effect on smooth muscle cell phenotype via modulation of PDGF receptor-beta. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2008; 295 (3):H1132-H1140.
    PubMed
  4. Owens CD, Wake N, Conte MS, Gerhard-Herman M, Beckman JA. In vivo human lower extremity saphenous vein bypass grafts manifest flow mediated vasodilation. J Vasc Surg 2009.
    PubMed
  5. Owens CD. Adaptive changes in autogenous vein grafts for arterial reconstruction: Clinical implications. J Vasc Surg 2009.
    PubMed
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In the News

  • Warren J. Gasper, M.D. Wins Top Prize at SVS Poster Competition

    Division of Vascular Surgery - Aug 12, 2011

    Warren Gasper, M.D., junior fellow in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and a member of the research lab of Christopher Owens M.D., was awarded first prize in the poster competition at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) for the poster Percutaneous Peri-Adventitial Guanethidine Delivery Induces Renal Artery Sympathectomy: Preclinical Experience and Implication for Refractory Hypertension. One hundred researchers competed worldwide for the honor. The President and President-Elect of SVS, and an audience of vascular surgeons, choose the winner after viewing PowerPoint presentations from the ten finalists.

  • Study Investigates Innovative Procedure to Prevent Re-narrowing of Arteries in PAD

    UCSF Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery - Jul 21, 2011

    Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 10-12 million Americans and causes significant pain and disability. PAD occurs when there is a chronic buildup of fatty plaque within the arterial wall that restricts blood flow to the extremities (legs and feet). A new study led by Christopher Owens, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, is investigating a new endovascular surgical intervention to prevent the "re-narrowing" of leg arteries following a prior surgery for PAD. This study, enrolling at both UCSF Medical Center and SFVAMC, integrates a medical device and drug that have each been FDA approved. The device - the Bullfrog® Micro-Infusion Catheter from Mercator MedSystems in San Leandro, Calif. - can precisely deliver drugs into the inflamed tissues (the adventitia and perivascular tissues) that surround diseased and damaged arteries.The study has just reached an important milestone with the enrollment of five patients.

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