Stephen E. Kahn, PhD, DABCC, FACB Professor Department of Pathology, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy Vice Chair, Laboratory Medicine Director of Laboratories Phone: (708) 216-4725 Fax: (708) 216-4146 skahn@lumc.edu

Applied Clinical Research - Chemistry, Toxicology, And Near Patient Testing

Dr. Kahn is engaged in multiple lines of clinical service and applied clinical research. As a laboratory director, his responsibilities include LUMC’s Core Laboratory, the Toxicology Laboratory, as well as the numerous and diverse settings of Near Patient Testing. He is a Professor of Pathology and Biochemistry as well as the Section Chief of Chemistry in the Department of Pathology’s Clinical Laboratories. Dr. Kahn’s areas of applied clinical research interests include studies on markers of tissue injury, clinical toxicology, clinical laboratory utilization, and near patient testing.

Currently, Dr. Kahn’s studies focus on the evaluation and utility of laboratory tests for markers of cardiac disease and cardiovascular risk assessment. In particular, a major focus of these studies is on the use of cardiac troponin I in assessment of patients with cardiac disease. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a 26 kDa protein that is a component of the regulatory complex which controls actin-tropomysoin coupling interactions during contraction of skeletal and cardiac muscle. Cardiac TnI inhibits the ATPase enzyme which provides energy for this muscle contraction. The cardiac isotype of cTnI has been shown to be released in the bloodstream following a variety of ischemic events affecting the myocardium. This release allows cTnI to be useful as a marker of acute myocardial infarction as well as more subtle manifestations of myocardial damage such as unstable angina and other forms of minor myocardial injury.

Active in several professional associations, Dr. Kahn is the past-President of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC), a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry, and chair of the Nominating Committee of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. Dr. Kahn also chairs an international subcommittee of AACC addressing harmonization of patient results for cTnI by developing a standard material which can be utilized in a wide variety of commercially available cTnI methods.

Resident and Graduate Student Participation

Loyola resident physicians and graduate students are invited to collaborate in all areas of Dr. Kahn’s applied clinical research interests. Typically, laboratory studies focus on problems of an applied or clinical nature to better shape the use of the clinical laboratories for optimizing patient care. All interested individuals are encouraged to contact Dr. Kahn directly.

Publications

View a partial list of Dr. Kahn's publications through the National Library of Medicine's PubMed online database.