Office Address

4126 Scott Hall

Position Title

Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Research

Areas of Interest

Cardiovascular physiology

Narrative Bio

Donal S. O'Leary, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of Cardiovascular Research in the Department of Physiology. A graduate of Miami University (B.A.) and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Ph.D.), Dr. O'Leary is a cardiovascular physiologist interested in the integrative control of the cardiovascular system at rest and during stress.

Dr. O'Leary's research is funded via the National Institute of Health, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and is focused on understanding the neural and hormonal mechanisms of control of arterial blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output,regional blood flow and sympathetic nerve activity during dynamic exercise. His recent findings include determining the relative roles of the arterial baroreflex and the muscle metaboreflex (reflex responses to ischemia of active skeletal muscle) in the control of the cardiovascular system in normal and pathophysiological states such as congestive heart failure. Dr. O'Leary is also currently investigating the role of purinergic mechanisms within the nucleus tractus solaritus in cardio-respiratory homeostasis, regional blood flow and peripheral sympathetic nerve activity. The goals of these studies are to elucidate further the relative roles of cardiovascular reflexes in the control of the cardiovascular system, their interactions, and their mechanisms of action.

Listen to Dr.O'Leary's AJP-Heart and Circulatory Podcast: Guidelines for Animal Exercise and Training Protocols

Dr. O'Leary will consider new PhD students for the 2021-22 academic year.

Laboratory Web Site

O'Leary Lab

 

Research

 

Publications

 A complete list of Dr. O'Leary's publications can be found at PubMed-O'Leary

Post Graduate Training

• 1986-89 Senior Fellow, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Category Information

 Neural control of heart rate and blood pressure (effects of exercise, heart failure and hypertension)

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