A recent symposium highlighted the ongoing research in hypertension being conducted at The University of Toledo.

The University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences, in conjunction with The Center for Hypertension & Personalized Medicine, hosted the symposium on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as one of a number of campus events that took place during the week of the inauguration of UT President Sharon Gaber.

During the first session of the event, pre- and post-doctoral trainees gave poster presentations that focused on their research studies.

A series of faculty oral presentations followed on the topic, “Five Decades of Seminal Contributions of UT to Research in Hypertension.”

Dr. Maurice Manning, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, spoke on the topic, “Thought Leaders of UT in Hypertension Research: A Historical Perspective.”

The next two talks, by Dr. Bina Joe, chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Dr. Ashok Kumar, Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, highlighted recent research into the genetics of hypertension.

Other highlights of the symposium looked at renal function, a critical area of hypertension research at UT. This series started with Dr. Christopher Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, who has a passion for this research. Dr. Steven Haller, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine also gave a report on his related work that shows that low levels of circulating CD40 are associated with loss of kidney function in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis.