Chair: Irving H. Zucker, Ph.D., (Currently the longest running chair in the College of Medicine)
No. of people in department (faculty/staff):
Faculty 17
Courtesy 7
Postdocs 6
Grad Students 13
Staff 14
Total 57
New faculty:
Erika Boesen, Ph.D., assistant professor
Ph.D. 2005, Monash University
Specialty: Renal Physiology
Major Interest: The endothelin system in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury; inflammatory cytokines and renal function; hypertension; lupus nephritis.
Paras Mishra, Ph.D. associate professor
Ph.D. 2006, Banaras University
Courtesy appointment in the department of anesthesiology
Specialty: MicroRNomics of cardiovascular diseases and diabetic cardiomyopathy
Major Interest: Understanding the mechanism of heart failure in diabetic set up using innovative approaches including miRNA and stem cell with the goal to develop intervention tool to ameliorate cardiomyopathy.
New programs:
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy Facility
Director: Matthew Zimmerman, Ph.D.
EPR (also referred to as Electron Spin Resonance) spectroscopy is based on absorption of microwave energy by free radicals or paramagnetic species in the presence of an external electromagnetic field resulting in the transition of electron spin states.
Research News:
New Grants Awarded:
Neeru Sharma, Ph.D. American Heart Association (AHA) National Grant-in-Aid
Babu Padanilam, Ph.D. AHA Grant-in-Aid
Matthew Zimmerman, Ph.D. AHA Grant-in-Aid
Adam Case, Ph.D. NIH K99/R00 Award
Kaushik Patel, Ph.D. NIH R56 Award
Kaushik Patel, Ph.D. NIH R01 Award
Harold Schultz, Ph.D. NIH R56 Award
Erika Boesen, Ph.D. Lupus Research Institute
Irving Zucker, Ph.D./Hanjun Wang, M.D. NIH R01 Award
Trainee Fellowship:
Peter Pellegrino NIH F30 Predoctoral Fellowship
Bryan Becker NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship
Duy Ha AHA Predoctoral Fellowship
Shamma Rahman AHA Predoctoral Fellowship
Heeseong Jang, Ph.D. AHA Postdoctoral Fellowship
We have published 28 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals in the past calendar year.
Other highlights:
Renewal of the NIH PO1 funding for the The Neuro-Circulatory Function in Chronic Heart Failure will begin its 16th year in September. The project has made significant progress toward understanding the neural control of cardiovascular function in chronic heart failure. The research team includes Irving Zucker, Ph.D., Kaushik Patel, Ph.D., and Harold Schultz, Ph.D.
Our Physiology Graduate Students participated in Physiology Understanding (or "PhUn") Week. K-12 grade students participate in various hands-on learning activities on physiological systems.
Cellular and Integrative Physiology participated in several fundraising events for the American Heart Association Heart Walk held on May 9.
Adam Case, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow was selected as the UNMC Pathway to Independence Award. The honor is given annually to the medical center's most promising postdoctoral scholar, as part of UNMC's effort to facilitate postdocs' timely transition to an independent career.
The Nebraska Physiological Society held a free health and wellness event with David Epstein, the best-selling author of "The Sports Gene" and a former investigative journalist, as the keynote speaker.
Kaushik Patel, Ph.D., was named the inaugural A. Ross McIntyre M.D., Ph.D. Professor.
For more information on the department, click here.