Olan Jackson-Weaver, PhD
Assistant Professor
Education & Affiliations
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Dr. Olan Jackson-Weaver joined our Department of Surgery in September 2018 as a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Trauma and Acute Care Education. He was born and raised in Albuquerqe, New Mexico. After completing his Bachelors degrees in Chemistry and Biology and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (vascular physiology focus) from the University of New Mexico, He received postdoctoral training at the University of California Los Angeles and the University of Southern California studying astrocyte calcium signaling and the roles of protein arginine methylation in heart development and disease. His lab at Tulane University studies several aspects of endothelial cell biology, including endothelial cell damage during shock and trauma and the role of Ca2+ signaling modalities in the regulation of angiogenesis.
Research
Our lab is interested in the roles of endothelial calcium signaling in hemorrhagic shock, ischemia-reperfusion injury, acute lung injury, and angiogenesis. We are currently focusing on the role of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in regulating endothelial calcium signaling in these disease states, and how the proteoglycan surface layer of the endothelium can be damaged by this signaling mechanism. The endothelium is vital in maintaining hemodynamic, coagulation, tissue fluid, and inflammatory homeostasis. These pathways are all affected by ischemia-reperfusion events such as hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation, and thus damage to the endothelium is thought to be a fundamental pathological mechanism in these events. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms of ischemia-reperfusion signaling in endothelial cells with an eye towards therapeutic opportunities is of great importance for improving treatments of a wide variety of disease states.
The other side of the coin is the important function of endothelial calcium signaling in regulating vascular tone, and in stimulating angiogenesis to bring blood to hypoxic tissue. We are also interested in how mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and protein arginine methylation regulate these important beneficial effects of endothelial cell calcium signaling. We therefore are also interested in the differences between homeostatic and pathological calcium signaling, and where the inflection points between the two exist.
Lab Members:
Sarah Abdullah – graduate student
Endothelial Cell Biology
Vascular Physiology
Protein Arginine Methylation
Ca2+ Signaling
