Department of Surgery Faculty

Robert A. Johnson, PhD, FAHA

Assistant Professor

Division: Trauma - Research
Email: johnsonr4@uthscsa.edu
Laboratory website: Integrative Cardiovascular Laboratories

Education: University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, Ph.D. in Physiology, 1992
University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, M.S. in Pharmacology, 1988

Postgraduate training: New York Medical College, Department of Pharmacology, Valhalla NY

Research interests: Cardiovascular roles for endogenously formed carbon monoxide: Our studies focus on the chronic and acute renal and hemodynamic effects of altered endogenous production of carbon monoxide using normotensive and hypertensive rat models. Such studies provide valuable information about the physiological roles of carbon monoxide as they relate to cardiovascular health.

Publications:
Johnson RA, Johnson FK. Heme oxygenase-derived endogenous carbon monoxide impairs flow-induced dilation in resistance vessels. (Epub ahead of print) SHOCK, Vol.29, No.4, pp.526-530, 2008.

Leszl-Ishiguro M, Horvath B, Johnson RA, Johnson FK, Lenzser G, Herman P, Horvath EM, Benyo Z. Influence of the heme-oxygenase pathway on cerebrocortical blood flow. NeuroReport. 2007;18:1193-1197.

Joshi MS, FergusonTB, Jr., Johnson FK, Johnson RA, Parthasarathy S, Lancaster JR, Jr. Receptor-mediated activation of nitric oxide synthesis by arginine in endothelial cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2007;104,24:9982-9987.

Durante W, Johnson FK, Johnson RA. Role of carbon monoxide in cardiovascular function. J. Cell. Mol. Med. Vol 10, No 3, 2006

Johnson FK, Johnson RA, Durante W, Jackson KE, Stevenson BK, Peyton KJ. Metabolic syndrome increases endogenous carbon monoxide production to promote hypertension and endothelial dysfunction in obese Zucker rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2006 Mar;290(3):R601-8. Epub 2005 Nov 10.

Teran FJ, Johnson RA, Stevenson BK, Peyton KJ, Jackson KE, Appleton SD, Durante W, Johnson FK. Heme oxygenase-derived carbon monoxide promotes arteriolar endothelial dysfunction and contributes to salt-induced hypertension in Dahl salt-sensitive rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2005 Mar;288(3):R615-22. Epub 2004 Nov 4.

Johnson RA, Teran FJ, Durante W, Peyton KJ, Johnson FK. Enhanced heme oxygenase-mediated coronary vasodilation in Dahl salt-sensitive hypertension. Am J Hypertens. 2004 Jan;17(1):25-30.

Johnson FK, Durante W, Peyton KJ, Johnson RA. Heme oxygenase-mediated endothelial dysfunction in DOCA-salt, but not in spontaneously hypertensive, rat arterioles. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2004 May;286(5):H1681-7. Epub 2003 Dec 23.

Johnson FK, Johnson RA. Carbon monoxide promotes endothelium-dependent constriction of isolated gracilis muscle arterioles. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2003 Sep;285(3):R536-41. Epub 2003 Apr 3.

Biosketch: Dr. Robert Johnson received his MS degree in pharmacology in 1988 and his PhD in physiology in 1992 from the University of Missouri - Columbia. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Pharmacology at New York Medical College he joined the faculty of the same department in 1995. He spent a year as a Visiting Professor at Escola Paulista de Medicina in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1998. He joined the faculty at the Department of Physiology at Tulane University in 1999 and was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2004. He serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology. He joined the Trauma Division research faculty in 2006. He is an integrative cardiovascular physiologist and his research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense to study the mechanism of circulatory collapse after hemorrhagic shock.

Awards:
1990 Graduate School Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award (Department of Physiology-School of Medicine), University of Missouri.
1992 Graduate School Superior Graduate Student Award (Department of Physiology-School of Medicine), University of Missouri.
1992 Proctor and Gamble Award for Meritorious Research (Fluid and Electrolyte Homeostasis)-American Physiological Society.
2000-2003 International Society of Pathophysiology - International Organizing Committee
2003-present Clinical Science - Editorial Consultant
2004 Tulane Medical Student Owl Club’s “Claritin Award” for clear and concise lectures.
2004-2005 Wellcome Trust Fund- Ad HoReviewer for Drug Patent Development Awards>
2005-present American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Editorial Board
2005-present Recent Patent Reviews on Cardiovascular Drug Discovery - Editorial Board

Professional societies:
Dual Fellow with the Council for High Blood Pressure Research and Council on Stroke
Member of the American Physiological Society - Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section (primary), Cardiovascular Section (secondary), Renal Section (tertiary)
International Advisory Board for the International Society of Pathophysiology
Member of the Microcirculation Society
Professional Member of the American Diabetes Association
Member of the Shock Society
Member of the National Lipid Association
Charter Member of the Consortium for Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology