Background
Koch was born on March 2, 1961, in Bryan, Ohio to Walter E. “Bud” and Marguerite Koch.
Koch was born on March 2, 1961, in Bryan, Ohio to Walter E. “Bud” and Marguerite Koch.
After graduating from Bryan High in 1979, he attended the University of Toledo (College of Pharmacy) where he received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1984. Subsequently he attended the University of Cincinnati (College of Medicine) where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics in 1990 under the laboratory of Doctor Arnold Schwartz, where he remained as a post-doctoral fellow until 1991.
He is currently a Principal Investigator at Temple University School of Medicine, where he is also the Director of the Center for Translational Medicine, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, and West.W. Smith Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine. In 2013, he co-founded the biotech company, Renovacor. During the remainder of Koch’s career at Duke University Medical Center, he worked as a Research Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, eventually advancing to Tenured Professor of Experimental Surgery.
In 2003 he moved to Thomas Jefferson Medical College where he created and developed a Center for Translational Medicine.
In 2012 Koch became the Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at Temple. In his career to date, he has over 350 peer-reviewed publications, close to 70 year-equivalents of National Institutes of Health R01 funding and has trained close to 50 Fellows.
Over the last two decades Koch has incvestigated the novel roles that G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) play in cardiac injury and repair. Through manipulating and therapeutically targeting particular GRKs, his investigations have shown potential for the development of new heart failure treatments.
Particularly, preclinical studies have shown that the inhibition of GRK2 in the heart via a gene therapy approach, has led to the reversal of heart failure in both small and large animal models.
Human clinical trials, which are in the final planning stages and will be conducted through National Institutes of Health grants and the biotech company Renovacor.
Koch has served on National Institutes of Health study sections as both a reviewer and Chair. He is the outgoing Chair of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council of the American Heart Association and a current Associate Editor of Circulation Research. Koch has won numerous awards, among which include: Honorary Member, Korean Society of Cardiology. Awarded April 19, 2014 in Gwangju, South of Korea The Inaugural William Wikoff Smith Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine, September 16, 2013 2011 Outstanding Investigator Award, International Society for Heart Research Fellow of the International Society of Heart Research (FISHR): 2010 Thomas Smith Memorial Lecture and Award for Cardiovascular Signaling from the American Heart Association: 2009 Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA): 2001 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy: 2001 Distinguished Alumni Lecture, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine: 1999 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship: 1991 - 1995.
