Physicians and staff
Lei Xi, MD
lxi@vcu.edu
Born in Chengdu, China, Dr. Lei Xi earned his M.D. degree from Chengdu Institute of Physical Culture and served as team physician at the Chinese National Athletes Training Center of the State Commission of Physical Culture and Sports in Beijing, China. He completed postgraduate studies in cardiopulmonary and exercise physiology at University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland from 1988 to 1990. Dr. Xi immigrated to the United States in 1990 as postdoctoral fellow in respiratory physiology at University of Wisconsin Medical School. He came to Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996 for his second postdoctoral fellowship in experimental cardiology, as a trainee on two NIH National Research Service Awards. Dr. Xi subsequently joined the faculty of Department of Internal Medicine (Cardiology) in 2000 as Instructor and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2005 and Associate Professor in 2011.
The longstanding research interests of Dr. Xi include cardiovascular and ventilatory response and adaptation to systemic hypoxia, hyperthermia, and physical exercise in healthy and diseased individuals. He has been taking a comprehensive approach to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiovascular ischemic or hypoxic injury and adaptation at the whole body, intact organ, and cellular/molecular levels. His most recent research focus includes the use of inorganic nitrate and nitrite for protecting heart against severe toxicity caused by cancer chemotherapy drugs. Dr. Xi has authored or co-authored more than 50 research articles in peer-reviewed biomedical journals such as Circulation, Circulation Research, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, American Journal of Physiology, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of Physiology (London), and Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. Dr. Xi is the editor of a book on intermittent hypoxia published in 2009 (ISBN 9781608761272). As a principal investigator, Dr. Xi has been funded by several research grants from the American Heart Association since 1998, including a National Scientist Development Grant (1/2005 to 12/2008).
Dr. Xi holds the memberships of American Physiological Society, American Heart Association, and Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Since 2006 he has been appointed to a number of study sections and peer-review committees of the American Heart Association. Dr. Xi has also served as a reviewer for over 20 international biomedical journals, which include Circulation, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Anesthesiology, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Journal of Physiology (Heart & Circulatory Physiology), Journal of Applied Physiology, Experimental Biology and Medicine, Brain Research and Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Since 2008 he has been serving on the Editorial Board of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica - the official journal of the Chinese Pharmacological Society (http://www.nature.com/aps/about/index.html). In addition, Dr. Xi received a Young Investigator Travel Award from the 2nd International Meeting on Pathophysiology of Preconditioning, Hibernation, and Stunning (Sicily, Italy) in 1998 as well as a Research Career Enhancement Award from American Physiological Society in 2002.