Dr. Usha Raj is the Head of Department of Pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the former chief of the Division of Neonatology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the Director of the Neonatal Fellowship Training Program at Harbor UCLA and Children’s Hospital of Orange County, and the Co-Director of the Perinatal Research Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA. She has been a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics since 1981, a member of the Society for Pediatric Research since 1988 and a member of the American Pediatric Society since 1996. She was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1994. She is a member of many scientific organizations and is very active in the American Physiological Society and the America Thoracic Society. She serves on the National institutes of Health, Study Section RIBT.
Her research interests have been in Developmental Pulmonary Vascular Biology and her laboratory has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 22 years. As the former head of the Pulmonary Vascular Biology Research Group at the Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute (LABioMed), Dr. Raj is studying the mechanisms that control the pulmonary circulation in the fetus and newborn, and is trying to understand why some babies develop problems related to the lung blood vessels while others do not.
Her work has established and defined the very important role of pulmonary veins in regulation of microvascular pressures, fluid filtration and blood flow in the fetal and neonatal lungs. Another important contribution has been the discovery of an important role for platelet activating factor in the normal physiological regulation of pulmonary vasomotor tone in the developing lung. The contribution of this vasoactive compound and growth factor in the pathogenesis of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension is being currently studied. Her laboratory has identified the very important role of cGMP dependent protein kinase and its mechanisms of action on the pulmonary vasculature during the transition from fetal to neonatal life. And more recently, her group has identified a unique role for reactive species in protein modification and vascular function in the transition from fetal to neonatal pulmonary circulation.
Dr. Raj and other members of her research team, including Basil Ibe, PhD, Yuansheng Gao, MD, PhD, Sewite Negash, PhD, Weilin Zhou, PhD, Jie Liu, PhD, May Abdallah, MS, are researching the genetic and environmental basis of pulmonary vascular disease in the fetus and newborn. One of the fastest growing areas of contemporary biomedical research is proteomics, the study of protein interactions and identification of patterns in molecular cell structure. Proteins are far more difficult to analyze than DNA in that they are much more complex, numerous, and fragile than genes, and are often difficult to locate, separate, and identify.
She is also involved in fellow education and is very interested in increasing the number of pediatricians in the academic research track. She has trained over 25 fellows, several of whom are pursuing academic careers. She has directed quarterly research conferences for the faculty and fellows in Southern California for several years. Her interest in helping the community has also extended to working with the Physicians for Social Responsibility and the American Academy of Pediatrics on important social issues. Within California, she has served as a Board member of the California Association of Neonatologists from 2000-3, and is active within this organization.
Selected Publications
• Ibe, B.O., A.M. Portugal, S. Chaturvedi, and J.U. Raj. Oxygen-dependent PAF-receptor binding and intracellular signaling in ovine fetal pulmonary vascular smooth muscle. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol , 288(5):L879-86, 2005.
• Gao,Y. and J. U. Raj . “Parathyroid Hormone Related Protein Mediated Responses in Pulmonary Arteries and Veins of Newborn Lambs”. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol , 289: L60-66, 2005.
• Sander, F., Y. Gao, and J. U. Raj. Hypoxia down-regulates cyclic guanidine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase in fetal pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cell through generation of reactive oxygen species and promotes development of pulmonary hypertension. Chest ,128:577S-578S, 2005.
• Wang, X., M. Tong, S. Chinta, J. U. Raj, and Y. Gao. Hypoxia-induced Reactive Oxygen Species Downregulate ET B -receptor-mediated Contraction of Rat Pulmonary Arteries. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol , 290:L570-8. 2006. Epub 2005 Oct 14.
be, B.O., A. Portugal, and J.U. Raj. Levalbuterol inhibits human airway smooth muscle cell proliferation: therapeutic implications in management of asthma. Int Arch Allergy and Immunology, 139:225-36, 2006. Epub Jan 2006
• John, T. A., B.O. Ibe, and J.U. Raj. Oxygen alters Caveolin-1 and Nitric Oxide Synthase-3 functions in ovine fetal and neonatal lung microvascular endothelial cells. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 291(5):L1079-93, 2006. Epub 2006 Sep 22.
• Ibe, B.O., A. Ameer, A.Portugal, L. Renteria, and J.U. Raj. Platelet Activating Factor Modulates Activity of Cyclic Nucleotides in Fetal Ovine Pulmonary Vascular Smooth Muscle. J Pharmacol Exp Therap , 320(2):728-37. 2007, Epub , Nov 2006 .
• Gao, Y., A. Portugal, S. Negash, W. Zhou, L.D. Longo, and J.U. Raj. Role of Rho Kinases in PKG-Mediated Relaxation of Pulmonary Arteries of Fetal Lambs Exposed to Chronic High Altitude Hypoxia. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 292: L678 - L684, 2007.
• Zhou, W., C. Dasgupta, S. Negash, and J.U. Raj. Modulation of Pulmonary Vascular Smooth Muscle Phenotype in Hypoxia: Role of cGMP-Dependent protein Kinase. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol, Feb 23; [Epub ahead of print], 2007.
• Zhou, W., B.O. Ibe, and J.U. Raj. Platelet Activating Factor Receptor-Induced Ovine Fetal Pulmonary Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation is mediated by Transactivation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and MAPK Phosphorylation. AJP: Heart Circulation Physiol, Feb 23; [Epub ahead of print], 2007.
• Qin, X., X. Zheng, H. Qi, D. Dou, J. U. Raj , and Y. Gao. cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase in Regulation of Basal Tone and in Nitroglycerin and Nitric Oxide Induced Relaxation in Porcine Coronary Artery. Pflugers Arch Euro Journal Physiol Mar 22; [Epub ahead of print] , 2007.
• Negash, S., Y. Gao, W. Zhou, S. Chinta, J. Liu, and J.U. Raj. Regulation of cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase (PKG1) Mediated Vasodilation by Hypoxia-Induced Reactive Species in Ovine Fetal Pulmonary Veins. AJP: Lung Cell Mol Physiol, In Press, Epub July 2007.
• John, T.A., B.O. Ibe and J.U. Raj. Nitric Oxide Synthase-3 activity is downregulated by protein kinase G via lipid structures in neonatal lamb lung microvascular endothelial cells. Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology , In Press, 2007.