Dr. Joseph B. Moore IV, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville’s Center for Cardiometabolic Science in the Department of Medicine. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Oncology at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of Dr. Robert J. Arceci. Dr. Moore’s interdisciplinary training enabled him to bridge molecular cardiology and extracellular matrix (ECM) biology, shaping his lab’s focus on the cardiac ECM as both a structural scaffold and a dynamic signaling environment.

He directs a research team investigating ECM-mediated cell communication in the aging and diseased heart, with a particular emphasis on fibroblast-regulated ECM remodeling in cardiomyopathy and tissue fibrosis. Employing high-resolution imaging techniques—including transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM, SEM), second harmonic generation microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and tensile assays—his group maps ECM architecture and biomechanics across molecular to tissue-level scales. In models of chronic myocardial infarction and pressure overload, they assess ECM-altering therapeutics, including cyclo‑RGD-based peptidomimetics designed to disrupt integrin-dependent fibroblast–matrix interactions and enhance cardiac repair. His work aims to deepen understanding of ECM dynamics to develop novel therapeutic strategies that improve cardiac repair and function in heart disease.

Dr. Moore serves as a Technical Editor for Circulation Research, is a standing member of the NIH Study Section on Basic Biology of Blood, Heart, and Vasculature (BBHV), and is actively involved in mentoring trainees and collaborating across disciplines in imaging, fibrosis, and regenerative medicine.