Caitlin Bell, MD

Professional Titles

• Assistant Professor of Medicine

Recognitions

• Young Author Achievement Award, JACC: Cardio-Oncology (2024)
• Emerging Scientist Award for Women, Finalist, American Heart Association (ATVB) (2023)
• Gerald Reaven Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research, Stanford Cardiology (2022)

Research Interests

Publications

• Bell CF, Clayton ZS. Novel biomarkers in cardio-oncology: from promise to practice through prospective study. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Jul 1;329(1):H210-H212. PubMed PMID: 40387534
• Kojima Y, Ye Z, Wang F, Lotfi M, Bell CF, Adkar SS, Luo L, Fu C, Leeper NJ. The antipsychotic drug thiothixene stimulates macrophages to clear pathogenic cells by inducing arginase 1 and continual efferocytosis. Sci Signal. 2025 Apr 8;18(881):eads6584. PubMed PMID: 40198748
• Bell, CF. Mind the Translational Gap: Bidirectional Disease Associations Emphasize Need for Basic Science and Prospective Trials. J Am Coll Cardiol CardioOnc. 2025 Aug, 7 (5) 590–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccao.2025.04.005
• Bell CF, Baylis RA, Lopez NG, Ma WF, Gao H, Wang F, Bamezai S, Fu C, Kojima Y, Adkar SS, Luo L, Miller CL, Leeper NJ. Vascular smooth muscle cell plasticity in the tumor microenvironment. Cancer Commun (Lond). 2024 Dec 8. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 39648671
• Bell CF, Baylis RA, Lopez NG, Ma WF, Gao H, Wang F, Bamezai S, Fu C, Kojima Y, Adkar SS, Luo L, Miller CL, Leeper NJ. BST2 induces vascular smooth muscle cell plasticity and phenotype switching during cancer progression. bioRxiv. 2024 Sep 14. PubMed PMID: 39314286
• Bamezai S, Zhang Y, Kumari M, Lotfi M, Alsaigh T, Luo L, Kumar GS, Wang F, Ye J, Puri M, Manchanda R, Paluri S, Adkar SS, Kojima Y, Ingelsson A, Bell CF, Lopez NG, Fu C, Choi RB, Miller Z, Barrios L, Walsh S, Ahmad F, Maegdefessel L, Smith BR, Leeper NJ. Pro-efferocytic nanotherapies reduce vascular inflammation without inducing anemia in a large animal model of atherosclerosis. Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 13;15(1):8034. PubMed PMID: 39271657
• Luo L, Haas AM, Bell CF, Baylis RA, Adkar SS, Fu C, Angelov I, Giordano SH, Klarin D, Leeper NJ, Nead KT. Cancer Incidence After Diagnosis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm-Brief Report. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024 Jul;44(7):1694-1701. PubMed PMID: 38779853
• Schneider MK, Wang J, Kare A, Adkar SS, Salmi D, Bell CF, Alsaigh T, Wagh D, Coller J, Mayer A, Snyder SJ, Borowsky AD, Long SR, Lansberg MG, Steinberg GK, Heit JJ, Leeper NJ, Ferrara KW. Combined near infrared photoacoustic imaging and ultrasound detects vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque. Biomaterials. 2023 Nov;302:122314. PubMed PMID: 37776766
• Luo L, Fu C, Bell CF, Wang Y, Leeper NJ. Role of vascular smooth muscle cell clonality in atherosclerosis. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023;10:1273596. PubMed PMID: 38089777
• Bell CF, Lei X, Haas A, Baylis RA, Gao H, Luo L, Giordano SH, Wehner MR, Nead KT, Leeper NJ. Risk of Cancer After Diagnosis of Cardiovascular Disease. JACC CardioOncol. 2023 Aug;5(4):431-440. PubMed PMID: 37614573
• Baylis RA, Gao H, Wang F, Bell CF, Luo L, Björkegren JLM, Leeper NJ. Identifying shared transcriptional risk patterns between atherosclerosis and cancer. iScience. 2023 Sep 15;26(9):107513. PubMed PMID: 37636064
• Ho VV, O'Sullivan JW, Collins WJ, Ozdalga E, Bell CF, Shah ND, Krishnam MS, Ozawa MG, Witteles RM. Constrictive Pericarditis Revealing Rare Case of ALH Amyloidosis With Underlying Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma (Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia). JACC Case Rep. 2022 Mar 2;4(5):271-275. PubMed PMID: 35257101
• Bell CF, Leeper NJ. Killing the two deadly birds of atherosclerosis and cancer with one stone. Nat Cardiovasc Res. 2022 May;1(5):403-404. PubMed PMID: 39195942

Professional Memberships

• American Heart Association, Member
• American College of Cardiology, Member
• Alpha Omega Alpha, Member
• International Cardio-Oncology Society, Member

Practice Locations

• University of Colorado Hospital

• University of Colorado Cancer Center
• University of Colorado Cardiovascular Institute

Specialty Information

• Cardiology, Board Certification (2023)
• Internal Medicine, Board Certification (2020)
• Cardio-oncology
• American Society of Echocardiography, Board Certification (2021)

• Heart and Circulation - Cardiovascular Disease
• Heart and Circulation
• Heart and Circulation - Heart Diseases
• Circulatory System and Blood Vessel Health
• Cancers - Living with Cancer
• Cancers
• Wellness and Prevention
• Heart and Circulation - Abnormal blood flow through the heart
• Heart and Circulation - Abnormal heart rhythms
• Heart and Circulation - Aneurysms
• Heart and Circulation - Angina
• Heart and Circulation - Cardio-oncology
• Heart and Circulation - Arrhythmia
• Heart and Circulation - Cardiomyopathy
• Heart and Circulation - Circulatory Disorders
• Heart and Circulation - Coronary Disease
• Heart and Circulation - Dysfunction of the heart valve
• Heart and Circulation - Heart Attack
• Heart and Circulation - Heart Diseases - Prevention
• Heart and Circulation - Heart Failure
• Heart and Circulation - Heart Valve Diseases
• Heart and Circulation - High Blood Pressure
• Heart and Circulation - Weakened heart muscle
• Heart and Circulation - Structural Heart Disease