We kick off our Fall semester series with Dr. Chastity Bradford from Tuskegee University. Dr. Bradford is the Chair of the Department of Biology.

Investigating the Protective role of ACE2 in Pulmonary Hypertension and Angiotensin-II infused End-organ Damage

Abstract: My laboratory continues to elucidate the role of the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) and oxidative stress in cardiovascular remodeling. We study the impact of nutritional intervention on models of metabolic syndrome and the spontaneous hypertension to determine the effect of nutrition on cardiac protein expression, cardiac remodeling, and vascular function. With a greater emphasis on the role of the diet in hypertension and heart failure, we are investigating the role of the RAS system in hypertension, oxidative stress, and end organ damage.

Bio: Dr. Bradford is the department head of Biology and an associate professor of Biology at Tuskegee University(TU). Her career has focused on cardiovascular research, diversifying STEM, and community-based, healthy lifestyles outreach. I completed a Howard Hughes Faculty fellowship at the University of Florida in Physiology and Functional Genomics. As a junior faculty at TU, I completed the Morehouse School of Medicine/Tuskegee University/University of Alabama Health Disparities Research Training Program. Dr. Bradford is currently the Project Director for a USDA/NIFA funded REEU project designed to train students to use Geographical Information Systems to solve current biological problems, and Co-PI for a course-based educational research experience that expands the exposure of undergraduates to authentic research. She served as Co-PI for The Tuskegee Alliance to Develop, Implement and Study a Virtual Graduate Education Model for Underrepresented Minorities in STEM (NSF 2014-19). Upon completion of the Morehouse School of Medicine/Tuskegee University/University of Alabama Health Disparities Training Program, she received funding through Research Centers in Minority Institutions to train underrepresented STEM students in biomedical research. As a visiting professor at Temple University’s cardiovascular research center, she used a cardiac fibroblast-specific Focal Adhesion Kinase mouse model to assess cardiovascular remodeling in a pressure-overload model of hypertension. In her lab over the last 9 years, she has trained and mentored 4 PhD students, 4 Masters’ level students, 25 undergraduate trainees, 7 high school students, 2 junior faculty, 2 K-12 faculty. Her lab and others have discovered a critical balance between Angiotensin 1-7 and Angiotensin II, two critical components of the Renin-Angiotensin System. We use different animal models to discover intervention strategies that aid blood pressure control and maladaptive cardiovascular remodeling. My ultimate goal is to translate our bench-side research to the community.