Return of vascular biologist Dr. John Imig sparks new opportunities for cardiovascular collaboration
June 2008 CVC UPBEAT - Vascular biologist John Imig, PhD, returned to the Medical College in January to begin an appointment as Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Dr. Imig completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Physiology at the College from 1990-1993 under the tutelage of advisor Richard Roman, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Director of the Kidney Disease Center, and was excited for the opportunity to once again collaborate with College researchers.
“I am elated to be working in the Medical College’s rich research environment,” Dr. Imig said. “’Pockets’ of research exist elsewhere, but none in my experience are as broad in scope as the Medical College’s, with so many researchers collaborating to move science forward to help people. The facilities available to support investigators at the Medical College are exceptional.”
CVC Director and former mentor David Harder, PhD, the Kohler Co. Professor in Cardiovascular Research, and William Campbell, PhD, Chairman and Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, are equally excited that Dr. Imig has returned to share his expertise and collaborate with our scientific community.
“Dr. Imig is a leading expert on the role of vasodilator fatty acids. These fatty acids are produced in all blood vessels, and a decrease in their production or an increase in their degradation contributes to the development of hypertension, stroke and kidney disease,” said Dr. Campbell. “He has been instrumental in developing a new class of drugs that restore the activity of these vasodilators and decrease high blood pressure and reduce injury to the brain from stroke. These drugs are in phase I clinical trials. We are very fortunate to have Dr. Imig join the basic and translational research programs in the Cardiovascular Center and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.”
“He has an international reputation, which fits in beautifully with respect to the research endeavors being carried out here at the Medical College,” Dr. Harder said. “I am excited that Dr. Imig has chosen to come and be part of a committed group of scientists aimed at understanding and improving cardiovascular health.”
Dr. Imig’s primary research goal is to increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which eicosanoid metabolites influence cardiovascular function. Eicosanoid metabolites are fatty acids made by the body that have a myriad of protective effects on various organs of the body, such as protecting the brain from damage from a stroke, decreasing clotting, and protecting the kidneys. The fatty acids are produced by enzymes. Different organs have different families of enzymes that are unique in localization and what products they produce.
“We have learned that there are genetic links to enzymes that control the fatty acids,” said Dr. Imig. “We are seeing that improper responses of fatty acids indicate the possibility of increased events of cardiovascular disease. One way we can manipulate the level of fatty acids is to develop drugs that inhibit or increase enzyme activity.”
After completing his fellowship at MCW, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physiology at Tulane University, and most recently served as Professor of Vascular Biology at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Imig has been awarded two patents for drugs used to reduce damage from strokes and to treat kidney and cardiovascular diseases.
He is the project leader of two National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded program grants, one investigating kidney dysfunction in salt-sensitive high blood pressure and the other studying microvascular kidney functions. He is also principal investigator for an American Heart Association Established Investigator grant studying the prevention of organ damage associated with type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and the use of fatty acids as kidney and cardiovascular therapeutic targets, as well for a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) grant investigating eicosanoids in metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Imig has authored or co-authored more than 127 publications and serves as the managing editor of the publication Frontiers in Bioscience. He is also a member of 11 journal editorial and advisory boards, such as the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology; Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology; and Renal Physiology, Hypertension, the Journal of Pharmacological & Experimental Therapeutics, and the Journal of Vascular Research.
Included among Dr. Imig’s numerous awards are the Young Faculty Research Award, Southern Section of the American Federation for Medical Research (2000); the American Society of Hypertension-Monarch Pharmaceuticals Young Scholars Award (2001); the AstraZeneca Young Investigator Award of the American Physiological Society Renal Section (2004); and the Medical College of Georgia School of Graduate Studies Distinguished Research Award (2007).
A native of Central Illinois, Dr. Imig was eager to begin his new appointment at the Medical College, even though his wife, Mindy, and their two daughters, Allyson and Emily, are still in Georgia completing the school year.