Models of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

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Guest Editor

Leslie Kennedy

Cardiovascular Branch, NHLBI

Dr. Leslie Kennedy is a Research Scholar in the Cardiovascular Branch of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLB) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Kennedy’s work focuses on investigating the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular pathologies, such as heart failure and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Kennedy earned her B.S. in Biology with honors from Elizabeth City State University, where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Distinguished Emblem Award and the Honors Program Merit Award. She then accepted a position as a postbaccalaureate fellow and laboratory manager in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Kennedy then earned her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 just prior to coming to the NHLBI as a postdoctoral fellow working in the Laboratory of Cardiac Physiology under the mentorship of Elizabeth Murphy, Ph.D. Within 3 years of beginning her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Kennedy was named an NIH Independent Research Scholar, which transitioned her from her fellowship to her current research scholar position heading the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Biology within the NHLBI. Dr. Leslie Kennedy is a Research Scholar in the Cardiovascular Branch of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLB) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Kennedy’s work focuses on investigating the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular pathologies, such as heart failure and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Kennedy earned her B.S. in Biology with honors from Elizabeth City State University, where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Distinguished Emblem Award and the Honors Program Merit Award. She then accepted a position as a postbaccalaureate fellow and laboratory manager in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr

Collection Overview

Our tissues rely on a steady supply of blood to deliver oxygen and nutrients necessary for the heart to pump blood to the lungs and throughout the body. However, cell death ensues when the blood supply to any tissue area is disrupted. This can be accompanied by the significant and irreversible loss of tissue function. Studies have shown that both the initial disruption in blood supply and the subsequent reperfusion contribute to tissue injury, termed ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). This occurs in the heart as a result of valvular disease, stroke, and myocardial infarction but can also occur in the limbs and brain in response to vascular or hemodynamic dysfunction.

Additionally, donor organs experience ischemia immediately after being separated from the donor blood supply. This contributes significantly to the decline in recipient engraftment upon transplantation. How tissues respond to IRI depends upon the length and magnitude of the ischemic event. Several models have been developed to examine the mechanisms of IRI in order to manage it and develop treatment techniques to decrease it. This collection is designed to show some of these models while highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.