Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are the leading causes of death. Metabolic dysregulation is a hallmark of both the failing heart and cancer. The Karlstaedt laboratory investigates cross-disciplinary how these metabolic alterations potentiate cardiovascular diseases in cancer patients. A major challenge in ‘cardio-oncology’ research has been the translation of findings from animal models to clinical applications. The Karlstaedt lab combines physiologic and translational models (e.g, ex vivo working heart perfusions) with a variety of methods including isotope tracing, targeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and computational modeling to dissect metabolic alterations in cardiovascular diseases. The overall goal of the lab is to develop therapy regimens that target cancer cells while protecting the heart.