Professor
Lab Team
Education & Training
State University of New York at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY, BS in Biology, 1996
Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, MS and PhD in Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 2000
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiovascular Biology and Physiology
Academic Appointments
2021-present Dean, The Graduate School, Augusta University
2018-present Professor, Department of Physiology, Augusta University
2014-2018 Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Augusta University
2013-2014 Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Georgia Regents University
2011-2013 Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Georgia Health Sciences University
2011-present Associate member of the Department of Pharmacology and Associate member of the Vascular Biology Center
2008-2011 Assistant Professor, Vascular Biology Center, Medical College of Georgia
2006-2008 Instructor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Georgia
2003-2006 Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Georgia
Research Interests
The overall goals of my laboratory are to 1) better understand the molecular mechanisms
that regulate blood pressure (BP) and renal health and function in males and females
under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions, and 2) increase our understanding
of conditions which predispose females to cardiovascular and renal disease. ~19 million
deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease (CVD) globally in 2020, an increase
of ~20% from 2010; heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men and women
in the US. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for CVD, and it has been
suggested that eliminating hypertension would reduce CVD mortality by 30.4% in men and 38.0% in women.
Although young women are considered “protected” from hypertension and the associated
cardiovascular risk relative to age-matched men, the elimination of hypertension is
projected to have a larger impact on CVD mortality in women. Studies in the lab are
designed, in part, to increase our understanding of the mechanisms controlling blood
pressure in both sexes, to allow for the development of more targeted and effective
medications to treat hypertension.
Current Projects
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- Improving awareness of women with hypertension: ROAR (Rural, Obese, At Risk) 1U54HL169191-01:
The overall goal of the project is to make ROAR a national resource, recognized leader
in CVD in females, and a force to change perceptions and awareness surrounding CVD
risk in women across the Southeast, particularity in high-risk groups of women. The
projects includes three scientific projects and a career enhancement core. The three
research projects include Dr. Sullivan’s project on the enhanced susceptibility of
females to high fat diet-induces increases in blood pressure, a project examining
the interaction of immune system activation and obesity of systemic lupus erythematosus
(SLE) hypertension in females led by Erin Taylor, PhD, at the University of Mississippi
Medical Center, and a third project examining how immune cells are activated in SLE
led by Michael Ryan, PhD, at the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine.
For more information on this funding mechanism, visit: Office of Research on Women’s Health.
- Mechanisms of subclinical renal injury in females following AKI: implications for
adverse pregnancy outcomes (1R01DK134695): Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major clinical
problem in the United States. AKI occurs in ~1 in 5 hospitalizations and women make
up ~40% of AKI patients. Patients of both sexes who recover from AKI are at risk for
developing chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular events and have increased all-cause
mortality, suggesting that subclinical kidney injury persists following AKI. Recent
large-scale clinical studies report that women with a history of AKI have abnormally
high rates of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes during pregnancy, despite clinical
evidence of renal recovery prior to conception as defined by measurement of serum
creatinine. We recently established a pregnancy post-AKI model in Sprague Dawley rats
using ischemia reperfusion (IR) as an experimental model of AKI, allowing us to examine
the mechanisms by which AKI prior to conception prevents appropriate adaptions to
pregnancy. Current studies are designed to test the hypothesis is that AKI prior to
conception impairs the renal, hemodynamic and immune adaptations required for a healthy
pregnancy by decreasing nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability.
- Females have more anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive Tregs than males: We have reported
that greater numbers of T regulatory cells (Tregs) in females are critical to the
ability of females to limit increases in BP relative to males, suggesting a central
role for immune cells in contributing to sex differences in BP and the cardiovascular
“protection” typically afforded to young females. Ongoing work in the lab is further
examining why females have more Tregs than males. Understanding the mechanisms regulating
immune cell recruitment could provide novel insight into how males vs. females regulate
the T cell profile in key organs responsible for BP control.
- Females recover from AKI faster than males: The prognosis of patients with AKI remains
poor, and patients that recover from AKI are at increased risk for developing chronic
kidney disease, cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Clinical and pre-clinical
studies further indicate that the male gender is a risk factor for the incidence and
severity of AKI. In particular, we are interested in the relative mechanisms driving
recovery in males vs females. The degree of injury immediately following an ischemic
insult is relatively comparable between the sexes, but females tend to recover renal
function faster than males. Ongoing studies are examining the physiological implications
of our observations that 1) males have prolonged vascular congestion in the renal
medulla compared to females and 2) males exhibit sustained mitochondrial dysfunction
following ischemia.
Awards & Accomplishments
Past Accomplishments
- Augusta University “Caught in the Act of Great Teaching” Award recipient
- Mid-Career Awardee - Hypertension Council
- American Journal of Hypertension's John Laragh Research Award
- Augusta University Faculty Senate Outstanding Faculty Award from The Graduate School
- Augusta University Authentic Women Leaders Pilot Pipeline Program
- American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Comparative and Integrative Physiology
Star Reviewer
- Chair, APS Sex and Gender-Related Research Interest Group
- Named the 2015 APS Renal Section Young Investigator
- Selected as Associate Editor for AJP:Renal Physiology
- Selected as Cardiorenal Study Section Co-Chair; American Heart Association
- Named Chair of the Augusta University Women’s Health Research Interest Group in the
Div. of Clinical Translational Science
- Recipient of GHSU Outstanding Young Basic Science Faculty Award
- Recipient of GHSU Research Institute Emerging Scientist Award
- Named Fellow of the American Heart Association and the Council for High Blood Pressure
Research
- Recipient of Kidney Council New Investigator Travel Award
- Recipient of Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control Arthur Guyton New Investigator
Award
- Named the APS Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section New Investigator
- Recipient of Merck New Investigator Award
Representative Publications
(Go to Pub Med)
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Tipton AJ, Musall JB, Crislip GR, Sullivan JC. Greater transforming growth factor-β in adult female SHR is dependent on blood
pressure, but does not account for sex differences in renal T regulatory cells. Am
J Physiol Renal Physiol, 2017, Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00175.2017
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Gillis EE and Sullivan JC. Sex Differences in Hypertension: Recent Advances. Hypertension, 68(6):1322-1327
2016. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.116. 06602
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Taylor L and Sullivan JC. Sex Differences in Obesity-Induced Hypertension and Vascular Dysfunction: A Protective
Role for Estrogen in Adipose Tissue Inflammation? Am J Physiol Regu, 2016, Epub ahead
of print. DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00202.2016
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Sasser JM, Brinson KN, Tipton AJ, Crislip GR and Sullivan JC. Blood pressure, sex and female sex hormones influence renal inner medullary nitric
oxide synthase activity and expression in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. J Am Heart
Association. 4(4); pii: e0017382015, 2015. DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.114.001738
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Tipton AJ, Baban B, Sullivan JC. Female SHR Have a Compensatory Increase in Renal Regulatory T Cells in Response
to Elevations in Blood Pressure. Hypertension, 64(3):557-64; 2014. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.114.03512
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