Caitlin O'Meara, PhD

Assistant Professor

Locations

Cardiovascular Center

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2011
Postdoctoral Training, Harvard Medical School, 2016

Research Interests

Higher organisms such as zebrafish and neonatal mice are capable of complete heart regeneration following partial amputation. Although adult humans and adult mice lack this regeneration response, there is great interest in understanding how heart regeneration can occur in lower organisms so that we can activate this process in humans to better treat patients following myocardial infarction. My lab is interested in understanding the cell biology and molecular pathways that facilitate heart regeneration and cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity. Factors that we find to mediate cardiac regeneration in zebrafish or neonatal mice are then tested in adult non-regenerative mammalian models to identify potential therapeutic targets for promoting cardiac healing.

Yap is required for scar formation but not myocyte proliferation during heart regeneration in zebrafish.

(Flinn MA, Jeffery BE, O'Meara CC, Link BA.) Cardiovasc Res. 2019 Mar 01;115(3):570-577.
Soluble interleukin-13rα1: a circulating regulator of glucose.

(Rachmin I, O'Meara CC, Ricci-Blair EM, Feng Y, Christensen EM, Duffy JF, Zitting KM, Czeisler CA, Pancoast JR, Cannon CP, O'Donoghue ML, Morrow DA, Lee RT.) Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2017 12 01;313(6):E663-E671.
Nerves Regulate Cardiomyocyte Proliferation and Heart Regeneration.

(Mahmoud AI, O'Meara CC, Gemberling M, Zhao L, Bryant DM, Zheng R, Gannon JB, Cai L, Choi WY, Egnaczyk GF, Burns CE, Burns CG, MacRae CA, Poss KD, Lee RT.) Dev Cell. 2015 Aug 24;34(4):387-99.
Peering Into the Cardiomyocyte Nuclear Epigenetic State.

(O'Meara CC, Lee RT.) Circ Res. 2015 Aug 14;117(5):392-4.
Cardiac myosin binding protein C regulates postnatal myocyte cytokinesis.

(Jiang J, Burgon PG, Wakimoto H, Onoue K, Gorham JM, O'Meara CC, Fomovsky G, McConnell BK, Lee RT, Seidman JG, Seidman CE.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jul 21;112(29):9046-51.
Response to Comment to the article 'A systematic analysis of neonatal mouse heart regeneration after apical resection'.

(Bryant DM, O'Meara CC, Ho NN, Gannon J, Cai L, Lee RT.) J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 May;82:184-5.
SH2B3 Is a Genetic Determinant of Cardiac Inflammation and Fibrosis.

(Flister MJ, Hoffman MJ, Lemke A, Prisco SZ, Rudemiller N, O'Meara CC, Tsaih SW, Moreno C, Geurts AM, Lazar J, Adhikari N, Hall JL, Jacob HJ.) Circ Cardiovasc Genet. 2015 Apr;8(2):294-304.
Transcriptional reversion of cardiac myocyte fate during mammalian cardiac regeneration.

(O'Meara CC, Wamstad JA, Gladstone RA, Fomovsky GM, Butty VL, Shrikumar A, Gannon JB, Boyer LA, Lee RT.) Circ Res. 2015 Feb 27;116(5):804-15.
A systematic analysis of neonatal mouse heart regeneration after apical resection.

(Bryant DM, O'Meara CC, Ho NN, Gannon J, Cai L, Lee RT.) J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 Feb;79:315-8.
Shroom3 contributes to the maintenance of the glomerular filtration barrier integrity.

(Yeo NC, O'Meara CC, Bonomo JA, Veth KN, Tomar R, Flister MJ, Drummond IA, Bowden DW, Freedman BI, Lazar J, Link BA, Jacob HJ.) Genome Res. 2015 Jan;25(1):57-65.
Identifying multiple causative genes at a single GWAS locus.

(Flister MJ, Tsaih SW, O'Meara CC, Endres B, Hoffman MJ, Geurts AM, Dwinell MR, Lazar J, Jacob HJ, Moreno C.) Genome Res. 2013 Dec;23(12):1996-2002.
SORCS1 contributes to the development of renal disease in rats and humans.

(Lazar J, O'Meara CC, Sarkis AB, Prisco SZ, Xu H, Fox CS, Chen MH, Broeckel U, Arnett DK, Moreno C, Provoost AP, Jacob HJ.) Physiol Genomics. 2013 Aug 15;45(16):720-8.

O'Meara Lab Staff

Samantha Paddock

Graduate Student

spaddock@mcw.edu

I'm interested in how the IL13 signaling axis, specifically IL4Ra, signals to cardiomyocytes to promote cardiac regeneration. Additionally, I'm pursuing how IL13 signaling can promote cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and cardioprotection after the neonatal regenerative window has closed.

Santiago Alvarez, MD

Graduate Student

salvarez@mcw.edu

My research interest focuses on cardiac recovering, tissue remodeling and heart failure development after acute cardiac injury, looking particularly at the role of interleukin 4 and 13 in cardiac macrophages in promoting cardiac regeneration and improving outcome.

Michael Flinn, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

mflinn@mcw.edu

My research is focused on addressing the role of Hippo-Yap signaling following ischemic injury in context of heart failure or cardiac regeneration.

Victor Alencar

Research Technician

valencar@mcw.edu

My research interests span throughout various fields of biology, but specially in physiology of cardiac regeneration. I am thrilled to collaborate with the lab team and their research projects, taking joy in learning new techniques to move our lab discoveries forward.

Caitlin O'Meara, PhD