
Allen W. Cowley, Jr., PhD
Harry & Gertrude Hack Term Professorship in Physiology
Contact Information
Education
BA, Economics, Trinity College, 1961
Biography
Allen W. Cowley, Jr., PhD has been Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin since 1980. He earned his doctorate in Physiology from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania working with Dr. John Scott before joining Dr. Arthur Guyton in the department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where he rose to the rank of Professor.
Dr. Cowley has served as President of the American Physiological Society (APS) as well as the President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences and Chair of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association (AHA). He has received the Walter Cannon, the Ernest Starling, the Carl Wiggers, and Ray Daggs Awards from the APS and the Novartis Award from the Council for High Blood Pressure Research and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the AHA. His research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1971 during which time he has mentored over fifty fellows and students in his laboratory resulting in over 325 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Leadership Positions
- Professor and Chairman, Department of Physiology
Research Interests
Cardiovascular Physiology | Genetics and Genomics | Renal Physiology
Dr. Cowley has made seminal findings related to the role of the baroreceptor reflexes, the renin-angiotensin system and vasopressin in both the short and long-term regulation of arterial blood pressure. His research has revealed the importance of the renal medullary circulation in sodium homeostasis and the long-term control or arterial pressure. He proposed the novel hypothesis and then demonstrated that small reductions of blood flow to medulla of the kidney can produce chronic hypertension. More recent work has determined the impact of arterial pressure on the production of oxidative stress and renal injury in the renal medulla of hypertensive rats. During the past decade, he has pioneered efforts to attach systems level biology to the genome providing novel insights into the location of genes that underlie complex disease planting the seeds for the field now referred to as "physiological genomics".
Currently he directs two program project grants; one focused on the kidney and the physiological mechanism of blood pressure control and the second exploring the genetic basis of salt-sensitive hypertension.
Fields of major interest
Publications
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NOX4-dependent regulation of ENaC in hypertension and diabetic kidney disease.
(Pavlov TS, Palygin O, Isaeva E, Levchenko V, Khedr S, Blass G, Ilatovskaya DV, Cowley AW Jr, Staruschenko A.) FASEB J. 2020 Oct;34(10):13396-13408 PMID: 32799394 PMCID: PMC7722042 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85089380202 08/18/2020
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(Shimada S, Abais-Battad JM, Alsheikh AJ, Yang C, Stumpf M, Kurth T, Mattson DL, Cowley AW Jr.) Hypertension. 2020 Sep;76(3):849-858 PMID: 32755400 PMCID: PMC7429333 08/07/2020
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The early effects of uninephrectomy on rat kidney metabolic state using optical imaging.
(Mehrvar S, Foomani FH, Shimada S, Yang C, Zheleznova NN, Mostaghimi S, Cowley AW Jr, Ranji M.) J Biophotonics. 2020 Sep;13(9):e202000089 PMID: 32436651 05/22/2020
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(Kidambi S, Wang T, Chelius T, Nunuk I, Agarwal P, Laud P, Mattson D, Cowley AW Jr, Liang M, Kotchen T.) Sci Rep. 2020 07 15;10(1):11685 PMID: 32669581 PMCID: PMC7363933 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85087974638 07/17/2020
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NOX4/H2O2/mTORC1 Pathway in Salt-Induced Hypertension and Kidney Injury.
(Kumar V, Kurth T, Zheleznova NN, Yang C, Cowley AW Jr.) Hypertension. 2020 Jul;76(1):133-143 PMID: 32475313 06/02/2020
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CCL2 mediates early renal leukocyte infiltration during salt-sensitive hypertension.
(Alsheikh AJ, Dasinger JH, Abais-Battad JM, Fehrenbach DJ, Yang C, Cowley AW Jr, Mattson DL.) Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2020 04 01;318(4):F982-F993 PMID: 32150444 PMCID: PMC7191447 03/10/2020
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Chromosomal Substitution Strategies to Localize Genomic Regions Related to Complex Traits.
(Cowley AW Jr, Dwinell MR.) Compr Physiol. 2020 03 12;10(2):365-388 PMID: 32163204 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85081890516 03/13/2020
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Temporal Expression and Cellular Localization of PAPPA2 in the Developing Kidney of Rat.
(Kumar V, Yang C, Cowley AW Jr.) J Histochem Cytochem. 2020 03;68(3):209-222 PMID: 31989854 PMCID: PMC7045303 01/29/2020
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Epigenetic Modifications in T Cells: The Role of DNA Methylation in Salt-Sensitive Hypertension.
(Dasinger JH, Alsheikh AJ, Abais-Battad JM, Pan X, Fehrenbach DJ, Lund H, Roberts ML, Cowley AW Jr, Kidambi S, Kotchen TA, Liu P, Liang M, Mattson DL.) Hypertension. 2020 02;75(2):372-382 PMID: 31838911 PMCID: PMC7058976 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85077761000 12/17/2019
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NOX2-derived reactive oxygen species in immune cells exacerbates salt-sensitive hypertension.
(Abais-Battad JM, Lund H, Dasinger JH, Fehrenbach DJ, Cowley AW Jr, Mattson DL.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2020 01;146:333-339 PMID: 31730933 PMCID: PMC6942201 11/16/2019
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Progression of diabetic kidney disease in T2DN rats.
(Palygin O, Spires D, Levchenko V, Bohovyk R, Fedoriuk M, Klemens CA, Sykes O, Bukowy JD, Cowley AW Jr, Lazar J, Ilatovskaya DV, Staruschenko A.) Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2019 12 01;317(6):F1450-F1461 PMID: 31566426 PMCID: PMC6960784 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85075960951 10/01/2019
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(Abais-Battad JM, Alsheikh AJ, Pan X, Fehrenbach DJ, Dasinger JH, Lund H, Roberts ML, Kriegel AJ, Cowley AW Jr, Kidambi S, Kotchen TA, Liu P, Liang M, Mattson DL.) Hypertension. 2019 10;74(4):854-863 PMID: 31476910 PMCID: PMC6739138 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85072134357 09/04/2019