Samantha Simet, PhD

Associate Professor

   

Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy
986395 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6395

402-559-8296
Email


Education: 
PhD, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Academic Appointments:
Director, Masters in Medical Anatomy Gross Anatomy Course
Co-Director, Physician Assistant Gross Anatomy Course
Co-Director, Physical Therapy Gross Anatomy Course
Director, Teaching Practicum for Masters in Medical Anatomy Education
Director, High School Alliance Gross Anatomy Course
Advisor, Masters in Medical Anatomy

Honors & Awards:
Interprofessional Academy of Educators, UNMC, 2019
Distinguished Teaching Award, UNMC Student Senate, UNMC, 2017

Teaching:
Dr. Simet’s primary focus in the department is teaching. She participates in the Structure and Development of the Human Body course for Physician Assistants and Physical Therapy students and the Medical Structure and Development core for Medical Students.

Research:
Dr. Simet’s primary research focuses on the effect of prolonged alcohol intake and airway infection on airway epithelial tight junctions. Several studies have established that individuals who consume heavy and prolonged amounts of alcohol are more likely to suffer from pulmonary diseases and infections. Alcohol triggers tight junctions in airway epithelial cells to “leak”, which likely primes the airways for pulmonary infections. Thus, a second injury event (or “hit”), such as viral or bacterial infection, is likely intensified by alcohol consumption.

Other collaborative research efforts involve investigating how environmental antigens contribute to eosinophilic esophagitis as much as, if not more than food antigens. In addition, what regional differences in environmental allergens are triggering an individual’s eosinophilic esophagitis.

Publications:
  1. Yang L, Chen X, Simet SM, Hu G, Cai Y, Niu F, Buch SJ. ROS/HIG-1a/PDGF-BB autocrine loop contributes to cocaine-mediated Alveolar Epithelial Barrier Damage. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2016 Jul 8. PIMD 27391108
  2. Jill A. Poole, Todd A. Wyatt,  Debra Romberger, Elizabeth Staab,  Samantha M. Simet,  Stephen J. Reynolds,  Joseph Sisson,  Tammy Kielian. MyD88 in lung resident cells govern airway function responses to organic dust exposure. Respir Res. 2015 Sep 16;15;111. PMID 26376975
  3. Simet SM, Sisson JH. Alcohol’s Effects on Lung Health and Immunity. Alcohol Res. 2015;37(2):199-208. PMID 26695745
  4. Rajesh R. Wakaskar, Sai Praneeth, R. Bathena, Vishakha V. Ambardekar, Samantha M. Simet, Rakesh K. Singh, Jonathon L. Vennerstrom, Yuxiang Dong, Joseph A. Vetro. Peripheral shell cross-linking within individual Pluronic F127 polymer micelles increases the potency of loaded combretastatin A4 in vitro and decreases its premature release in whole blood. Pharm Res. 2015 Mar;32(3):1028-44. PMID 25223962
  5. John P Berger*, Samantha M. Simet*, Jane M. DeVasure, Jessica A. Boten, Jenea M. Sweeter,  Kusum K. Kharbanda, Joseph H. Sisson. Malondialdehyde-acetaldehyde (MAA) adducted proteins bind to scavenger receptor A in airway epithelial cells. Alcohol. 2014 Aug; 48(5): 493-500. PMID 24880893. *J.P. Berger and S.M. Simet contributed equally as first author to this work.
  6. Thyagaseely Premaraj Samantha M. Simet, Mark W. Beatty, Sundaralingam Premaraj. Oral epithelial cell reaction following exposure to Invisalign®  plastic material. American J of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. 2014 Jan; 145(1):64-71. PMID: 24373656.
  7. Samantha M. Simet SM, Jacqueline A. Pavlik, Joseph H. Sisson. Dietary antioxidants prevent alcohol-induced ciliary dysfunction. Alcohol 2013 Dec;47(8):629-635. PMID 24169090. PMCID: PMC3850762.
  8. Samantha M. Simet, Jacqueline A. Pavlik, Joseph H. Sisson. Proteomic analysis of bovine axonemes exposed to acute alcohol: Role of eNOS and HSP90 in cilia stimulation. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2013 Apr;37(4):609-15. PMCID: PMC3556349.
  9. Samantha M. Simet, Todd A. Wyatt, Jane DeVasure, Daniel Yanov, Diane Allen-Gipson, Joseph H. Sisson. Alcohol increases the permeability of airway epithelial tight junctions in Beas-2B and NHBE cells. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2012 Mar;36(3):432-42. Epub 2011 Sep 26. PubMed PMID: 21950588; PMCID: PMC3251733.
  10. Samantha M. Simet, Joseph H. Sisson, Jacqueline A. Pavlik, Jane M. DeVasure, Craig Boyer, Xian-der Liu, S. Kawasaki, J. Graham Sharp, Stephen I. Rennard, Todd A. Wyatt. Long-term cigarette smoke exposure in a mouse model of ciliated epithelial cell function. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2010 Dec;43(6):635-40. Epub 2009 Dec 30. PubMed PMID: 20042711; PMCID: PMC2993085.