Principal Investigator Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Anesthetist Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Research Scientist Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Clinician Investigator, Professor - Jesse Roberts Anes Pedi Div MDs MGPO, Mass General Research Institute

Professor of Clinical Anaesthesia Harvard Medical School

M.S. (Biochemistry) University of Rochester 1982

Anesthesiology MGH / Harvard Medical School 1990

Pediatric Anesthesiology Boston Children's Hospital 1990

Pediatrics UCSD 1985

MD University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry 1982

Neonatology Brown University 1987

bronchopulmonary dysplasia; cyclic gmp; cyclic gmp-dependent protein kinases; guanylate cyclase; muscle smooth; nitric oxide; nuclear localization signals; persistent fetal circulation syndrome; pulmonary alveoli; pulmonary artery; pulmonary vascular diseases; transforming growth factor beta; vascular The major goal of my laboratory is to explore the fundamental mechanisms of newborn lung injury so that we can develop novel therapies that prevent or treat important pediatric pulmonary diseases. Lung injury often causes abnormal pulmonary development and function in newborns and infants. For example, in infants with some forms of congenital heart disease, lung injury can cause an abnormal increase in the smooth muscle cells in the blood vessels of the lung periphery and, in part through this mechanism, pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. In premature infants, lung injury associated with life-sustaining ventilation of the lungs with oxygen often decreases pulmonary microvascluar and alveolar development and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung disease. Our laboratory has investigated the mechanisms by which nitric oxide (NO) and cGMP regulates pulmonary development and function in the newborn. We have discovered mechanisms by which NO and cGMP signaling are disrupted during newborn lung injury and developed inhaled NO as a novel, life-saving therapy to prevent or treat newborn lung diseases. We have also detailed how NO and cGMP regulate the function of cells within the lung. In particular, we identified new mechanisms that regulate the intracellular compartmentation of cGMP-signaling enzymes. We are very gratified that our work has lead to the development and world-wide use of therapies that treat lung disease in critically ill newborns and pediatric patients.