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Office Address
2241 Elliman
Phone
313-577-9074
Fax
313-577-5494
Position Title
Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Research
Areas of Interest
Cardiovascular physiology
Narrative Bio
Donal S. O'Leary, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Research in the Department of Physiology. A graduate of Miami University (B.A.) and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Ph.D.), Dr. O'Leary is a cardiovascular physiologist interested in the integrative control of the cardiovascular system at rest and during stress.
Dr. O'Leary's research has been continuously funded for over 31 years by the NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and is focused on understanding the neural and hormonal mechanisms which control arterial blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, regional blood flow and autonomic nerve activity at rest during stresses such as dynamic exercise and how these mechanisms are altered in heart failure, hypertension and other diseases. He is particularly interested in the interaction between, and mechanisms of action of major cardiovascular reflexes which control autonomic output and how these reflexes may be altered in pathophysiological states. He has also explored the role of purinergic mechanisms within the nucleus tractus solaritus in cardio-respiratory homeostasis, regional blood flow and peripheral sympathetic nerve activity. Current studies also include understanding the mechanisms mediating autonomic dysreflexia in spinal cord injury patients. The goals of these studies are to determine the relative roles of cardiovascular reflexes in the control of the cardiovascular system, their interactions, their mechanisms of action and to determine how these reflexes are altered in pathophysiological states.
Listen to Dr.O'Leary's AJP-Heart and Circulatory Podcast: Guidelines for Animal Exercise and Training Protocols
Dr. O'Leary will consider new PhD students for the 2024-25 academic year.
Laboratory Web Site
Publications
A complete list of Dr. O'Leary's publications can be found at PubMed-O'Leary
Post Graduate Training
- 1986-89 Senior Fellow, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Suffix
Ph.D.
Category Information
Neural control of heart rate and blood pressure (effects of exercise, heart failure and hypertension)