Tomasz J. Guzik

For almost two decades my research has focused on vascular biology, hypertension, and vascular biology. I have employed a combination of molecular biology, physiology, and biochemical approaches to gain insight into the mechanisms of vascular dysfunction and blood pressure regulation. My two most important contributions include studies on reactive oxygen species and vascular dysfunction, and more recently, the investigation of the role of inflammation and adaptive immunity in hypertension. As a clinician-scientist, my focus is to perform translational work characterizing novel mechanisms of vascular disease that are directly relevant to human pathology. My group uses mouse and rat experimental models, cell culture, human blood vessel tissue, and heart studies to achieve this. In my early scientific career, working with Professor Keith Channon in Oxford, I was one of the first to show that NADPH oxidase activity in human vessels alters endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in diabetes and hypertension. I also pioneered the characterization of human NADPH oxidases, and my work has contributed to the understanding of how free radicals may lead to vascular dysfunction in humans. In cooperation with Professor David G. Harrison of Vanderbilt University, my recent work has focused on studying the immune mechanisms that contribute to hypertension. In the past few years, my research has shown that T cells play a critical role in the development of hypertension and my work now largely focuses on understanding the activation and participation of T cells in this disease. I have published over 240 original studies in prestigious journals, including J Exp Med, J Clin Invest, Circulation, Circ Res, JACC and Eur Heart J as well as Hypertension, ATVB, FASEB J as well as the New Engl J Med and Lancet. Of these contributions, 30 papers have been cited more than 100 times. 7 of these papers have a “Highly cited” award from the ISI Web of Science. My most cited first author original contribution has been cited 1045 times. I serve on the editorial boards of several journals including Hypertension, the Eur Heart J. I am currently Editor-in-Chief of Cardiovascular Research and so far led to development of the jour al from Impact Factor of 5.0 to 8.1. I am also a member of the Board of the European Society of Cardiology and Chairperson of the European Society of Cardiology Publications Committee overseeing all ESC publications including Eur Heart J.