Professor MONTERO David

Prof Montero David

Assistant Professor (Joint Appointment with School of Public Health)

  • PhD
Biography

Prof Montero is jointly appointed by the Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, and the School of Public Health at HKU. Following a PhD project funded by the French Society of Vascular Medicine, he received postdoctoral training at the Cardiovascular Research Institute of Maastricht (Netherlands), the Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology and the Department of Cardiology of the University Hospital of Zurich (Switzerland). Prof Montero welcomes challenging questions, specifically those with the potential to arise the necessary intrinsic motivation to be enthusiastically immersed in them. Current research questions converge upon key mechanisms underpinning the cardiovascular capacity to deliver oxygen to the tissues, one of the strongest performance (endurance) and clinical (all-cause mortality) predictors. Embracing integrative approaches, his laboratory focuses on the controlled manipulation and accurate acquisition of the interplay between cardiovascular, hematological, nervous and metabolic systems during physiologically relevant conditions. Exercise is implemented as means to magnify and thereby facilitate the understanding of key intertwined mechanisms of the human body in health and disease.


Publications

Selected Publications (chronological order)

  1. Diaz-Canestro C, Tse HF, Yiu KH, Montero D. Reduced lean body mass: a potential modifiable contributor to the pathophysiology of heart failure. Eur Heart J 2023.
  2. Diaz-Canestro C, Pentz B, Sehgal A, Yang R, Xu A, Montero D. Lean body mass and the cardiovascular system constitute a female-specific relationship. Sci Transl Med 2022.
  3. Diaz-Canestro C, Pentz B, Sehgal A, Montero D. Sex differences in cardiorespiratory fitness are explained by blood volume and oxygen carrying capacity. Cardiovasc Res. 2021.
  4. Diaz-Canestro C, Montero D. Blood volume primarily determines orthostatic tolerance in women. J Intern Med 2021.
  5. Diaz-Canestro C, Siebenmann C, Montero D. Blood oxygen carrying capacity determines cardiorespiratory fitness in middle-aged and older women and men. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2021.
  6. Diaz-Canestro C, Sehgal A, Pentz B, Montero D. Sex specificity in orthostatic tolerance: the integration of hematological, cardiac and endocrine factors. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2021.
  7. Diaz-Canestro C, Pentz B, Sehgal A, Montero D. Sex dimorphism in cardiac and aerobic capacities: the influence of body composition. Obesity 2021.
  8. Diaz-Canestro C, Montero D. Unveiling women's powerhouse. Exp Physiol 2020.
  9. Montero D, Diaz-Canestro C, Oberholzer L, Lundby C. The role of blood volume in cardiac dysfunction and reduced exercise tolerance in patients with diabetes mellitus. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2019.
  10. Lundby C, Montero D. Did you know - why does maximal oxygen uptake increase in humans following endurance exercise training? Acta Physiol (Oxf) 2019.
  11. Diaz-Canestro C, Montero D. Sex dimorphism of VO2max trainability: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine 2019.
  12. Montero D, Diaz-Canestro C. Body height is inversely associated with left ventricular end-diastolic pressure in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2019.
  13. Montero D, Lundby, C. Arterial O2 content regulates plasma erythropoietin independently of arterial O2 tension: a blinded crossover study. Kidney Int 2018.
  14. Montero D, Lundby, C. Regulation of red blood cell volume with exercise training. Compr Physiol 2018.
  15. Montero D, Madsen K, Meinild-Lundby AK, Edin F, Lundby C. Sex dimorphism of substrate utilization: differences in skeletal muscle mitochondrial volume density and function. Exp Physiol 2018.
  16. Montero D, Breenfeldt-Andersen A, Oberholzer L, Haider T, Goetze JP, Meinild-Lundby AK, Lundby C. Erythropoiesis with endurance training: dynamics and mechanisms. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp 2017.
  17. Montero D, Lundby C, Ruschitzka F, Flammer A. True anemia ―red blood cell volume deficit― in heart failure: a systematic review. Circ Heart Fail 2017.
  18. Montero D, Flammer A. Exercise intolerance in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: time to scrutinize diuretic therapy? Eur J Heart Fail 2017.
  19. Montero D, Lundby C. Refuting the myth of non-response to exercise training: ‘non-responders’ do respond to higher dose of training. J Physiol 2016.
  20. Montero D, Houben AJ, Koster A, Muris DM, Schram MT, Gronenschild EH, Sep SJ, Henry RM, van der Kallen CJ, Schaper NC, Dagnelie PC, van Geel TA, Kremers SP, Savelberg HH, Stehouwer CD. Physical activity is associated with glucose tolerance independent of microvascular function: the Maastricht Study. JCEM 2016.
  21. Montero D, Rauber S, Goetze JP, Lundby C. Reduction in central venous pressure enhances erythropoietin synthesis: role of volume-regulating hormones. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 2016.
  22. Montero D, Diaz-Cañestro C, Keiser S, Lundby C. Arterial stiffness is strongly and negatively associated with the total volume of red blood cells. Int J Cardiol 2016 June 27.
  23. Montero D, Cathomen A, Jacobs RA, Flück D, Leur J, Keiser S, Bonne T, Kirk N, Lundby AK, Lundby C. Haematological rather than skeletal muscle adaptations contribute to the increase in peak oxygen uptake induced by moderate endurance training. J Physiol 2015.
  24. Montero D, Diaz-Cañestro, C. Endurance training and VO2max with ageing: role of maximal cardiac output and oxygen extraction. Eur J Prev Cardiol 2015.

Other Information

Seeking PhD candidates, Research Assistants and Postdoctoral Fellows

We are looking for intrinsically motivated students willing to excel in their PhD or postdoctoral research in the fields of Integrative Physiology and Pathophysiology. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are welcomed to apply. Interested candidates please email Dr Montero (dvmb@hku.hk) with your CV, transcripts, and publications (if any) for consideration.