Gohar Azhar, M.D. Geriatrician
Primary Appointment Location
Thomas and Lyon Longevity Clinic
625 Jack Stephens Drive
Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging
Little Rock, AR 72205
- Appointment Phone Number
- (501) 686-8000
New and Returning Patients
Overview
- Patient Type
- Adults
- Language
- English
About Dr. Azhar
Clinical Biography
Dr. Gohar Azhar is a Professor of Geriatrics at the Reynolds Institute on Aging, College of Medicine, at UAMS. She is also the Director of Clinical Research and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Aging Program. Dr. Azhar graduated from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh where she was recognized for her “Excellence in Ambulatory Care” and as an “Outstanding Resident ”. Subsequently, she trained as a geriatrician and physician-scientist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Division on Aging, at Harvard Medical School, in Boston.
At the Thomas and Lyon Longevity Clinic at UAMS, Dr. Azhar sees older adult patients as a primary care geriatrician. In addition, she also oversees the Memory clinic and attends to patients with different types of memory disorders.
Clinical Focus
In addition to seeing older patients as a primary care geriatrician, she also attends to patients with different types of memory disorders.
Dr. Azhar's Academic Background
Academic Biography
Prior to her appointment at UAMS, she was an Instructor at Harvard and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Jeanne Wei. She received pilot funding from the Nathan Shock Program to study the effects of oxidative damage on the heart and the brain and was the first to report on the age-associated changes in the heart and brain in response to hypoxia-reoxygenation in terms of altered bcl2/bax ratios. She also conducted some of the first experiments on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion in the aging mouse model and determined that the window of opportunity for intervention and salvaging of cardiac tissue was significantly shorter for the old heart versus the young adult heart. Her basic research focused on elucidating the role of serum response factor (SRF) in the aging heart. Dr. Azhar was responsible for the physiological and functional characterization of a number of transgenic mouse models of SRF under-expression and over-expression. She co-authored a salient paper describing the cardiac changes in these mice titled “Model of functional cardiac aging” in 2003 in which a modest increase in a single transcription factor, SRF, led to accelerated aging of the heart. In brief, this was a model with premature diastolic dysfunction, represented an “old heart in a young adult body.” Diastolic dysfunction is a condition that is very commonly observed in older adults and is now also termed “heart failure” with preserved ejection fraction or HFPEF. Dr. Azhar also practiced as a geriatrician at community care centers in inner city, Boston before moving to UAMS in 2002.
Dr. Azhar also held the position of Director of the Research Career and Development Core of the Arkansas Older American Independence Center and has helped establish a program to train numerous students and junior faculty members in aging research. Her basic research interests continue include investigating transcriptional control of the aging heart and physiological evaluation of stress responses of the aging cardiovascular system. She has recently been awarded an NIH, R41 STTR grant titled, “Nutritional Therapy in Elderly with Heart Failure” which builds on her clinical interests in cardiovascular aging. The clinical research projects involve the study of heart failure in the elderly, memory disorders, frailty and functional outcomes in response to nutritional interventions.
Faculty Appointments
- Geriatrics
- Professor
- Geriatrics
- Director of Clinical Research
- Geriatrics
- Co-Director, Cardiovascular Aging Program
Education
- Fellowship
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
Geriatric Medicine - Residency
- Western Pennsylvania Hospital
Internal Medicine - Internship
- Western Pennsylvania Hospital
Internal Medicine - Medical School
- Karachi University — Dow Medical College
Professional Certifications
- Arkansas State Medical Board
- American Board of Internal Medicine
- American Board of Internal Medicine — Geriatric Medicine
Associations
- American College of Physicians
- American Heart Association
- Gerontological Society of America
- Arkansas Geriatric Society
- Arkansas Medical Society
Conditions Treated
UAMS providers care for a broad range of conditions, some of which may not be listed below.
Dr. Azhar's Areas of Expertise
Locations Where Dr. Azhar Practices
Thomas and Lyon Longevity Clinic , Primary Location
625 Jack Stephens Drive
Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging
Little Rock, AR 72205
- Appointment Phone Number
- (501) 686-8000
New and Returning Patients
UAMS Medical Center
4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
- Appointment Phone Number
- (501) 686-8000
New and Returning Patients