ABOUT ME
As an undergraduate at Cornell University I majored in Neurobiology and Behavior and was intrigued by the concept that neuronal communication was affected by drugs. I chose to further understand this process by pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, where my first publication described molecular mechanisms by which antipsychotic drugs alter the response to dopamine. My postdoctoral studies provided further education into catecholamine metabolism and cellular regulation. When I joined the University of California San Diego (UCSD) as a Research Assistant Professor, I was able to pursue and get funding for work on muscarinic receptors and discover signal transduction pathways used by acetylcholine and other classes of G-protein coupled receptors. My laboratory’s research has been consistently funded since that time, and focused on signal transduction from G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to cellular responses in the cardiovascular system and in astroglial cells and glioblastoma tumors. Current studies focus on signals transduced through the small G-protein RhoA, receptors for thrombin and sphingosine-1 phosphate, and the role of transcriptional pathways in regulating tumor growth and inflammation.
In my time at UCSD I rose through the ranks to that of Distinguished Professor. I have served as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology in the UCSD School of Medicine since 2005 and also am Director of a large NIH funded training grant in Molecular Pharmacology. In these capacities, I take pleasure in motivating and training the next generation of academic and research pharmacologists. I have had multiple collaborators, as well as pre- and postdoctoral trainees, and am appreciated for my role as a mentor to women and junior faculty. My national and international reputation has been honored by named lectureships and awards from scholarly societies, as well as by inclusion on Scientific Advisory Boards and Editorial board of numerous journals.
ABBREVIATED CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION: Cornell University, A.B. in Neurobiology and Behavior, 1967
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Ph.D. in Pharmacology, 1973
RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
1967-1973 PhD, Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
1973-1975 Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmacology, University of Colorado Medical Center
1975-1979 Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine
1980-1985 Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
1985-1990 Associate Professor Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
1990-2012 Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
2001 – 2003 Vice Chair, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
2003 – 2004 Interim Chair, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
2004 – Present Chair, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
2012 – Present Distinguished Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UCSD School of Medicine
FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT:
NIH Predoctoral Trainee, Department of Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1967-1973
NIH Postdoctoral Trainee, Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado Medical Center, 1973-1975
RESEARCH GRANTS:
Past Support (Abbreviated):
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association
Faculty Development Award, 1979-1981
American Heart Association
Grant-in-Aid, 1980-1982, 1982-1985; Established Investigator Award, 1981-1985
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
Young Investigator Award, 1979-1982; Ischemic Heart Disease SCOR, 1985-1988; Program Project Grant (Chien), 1992-1997, 1997-2002, 2002-2007, RO1, (G. Dorn) 2002-2007; Program Project Grant (Sussman), 2006-2011, 2013-2018; Program Project Grant (Bers), 2006-2011, 2011-2017.
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Research Grant, (R01) 1982-1986, 1986-1990, 1990-1994, 1994-1997, 1997-2001, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2010-2015 (R37 MERIT 2015-2020)
National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (GM)
Research Grant (RO1) 1986-1990, 1990-1995, 1995-1999, 2000-2004, 2004-2008, 2009-2015
Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program Research Grant, July 1990-1994
University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee, 1985-1986, 1987-1988
SCIOS Inc. 2004-2006
UC MEXUS (CN-06-109) 2006-2008
Fast Forward–MERCK KGaA Collaboration 2013-2015
National Institutes of Health (HL105242-McCulloch A, PI, Brown JH, Co-Investigator) Research Grant (RO1), 2011-
2016 “Multi-scale systems model of murine heart failure”
National Institutes of Health (HL080101-Bers D, PI, Brown JH, Project IV Leader) Program Project Grant (PPG), 2006-
2011; 2011-2017 “CaMKII and IP3-mediated signaling in cardiac myocytes”
National Institutes of Health (GM036927-Brown JH, PI) Research Grant, (RO1), January 1986-1990, 1990-1995, 1995-
1999, 2000-2004, 2003-2008, 2009-2015, “Rho- and GPCR-mediated signaling through novel cellular effectors”
National Institute of Health (2P01 HL085577-Sussman, PI, Brown JH, Project II Leader) project grant (PPG), 2013-
2018 “Restoration of myocardial healing through G-protein coupled receptor signaling”.
Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP-261P-0040–Brown JH, PI) Research Grant 2017-
2020 “Inflammatory cardiovascular disease induced by autonomic effects of e-cigs”
Current Support:
National Institutes of Health (R01HL028143-Brown JH, PI) Research Grant, (R01/R37) 1982-1986, 1986-1990,
1990-1994, 1994-1997, 1997-2001, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2010-2015, year 27 (MERIT 2015-2021) “RhoA
mediated survival signals in cardiomyocytes”
National Institutes of Health (R01CA218859–Brown JH, PI) Research Grant 2018-2023; “RhoA and GPCR
mediated transcriptional activation regulates glioblastoma”
National Institutes of Health (R01HL145459 Brown JH, MPI with Miyamoto, S) Research Grant 2019-2023
“Cardiomyocyte CaM kinase II as a driver of cardiac inflammation and remodeling”.
TRAINING GRANTS:
Director, Leadership:
National Institutes of Health (GM007752-42 Brown JH, PI, Acting Director 2004-2009, Director 2009–2014, 2014-2019, 2019-2024; Handel T, Co-PI, 2019-2024) Training Grant (T32), Graduate Training in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology
Participating Faculty Member:
Interdisciplinary Anesthesiology Research Training Program (T32) (PI- Patel)
Training in Cardiovascular Physiology & Pharmacology (T32) (PI- Ross, R.)
Molecular Biological Approaches to Endocrinology (T32) (PI- Rosenfeld M. G.)
Mentoring Young Minds to Increase Diversity in The Biomedical Research (R25) (PI- De Maio)
Faculty Development Program in Cardiovascular Sciences; PRIDE/FOCUS (R25) (PI- Trejo)
Training Program in Diabetes Research (T32) (PI- Saltiel)
Multidisciplinary Training In Basic And Translational Alzheimer's Disease Research (T32) (PI- Koo E.)
Translational Research Training in Pulmonary Vascular Disease Training Grant (T32) (PI- Yuan, J.)
Integrative Bioengineering of Heart, Vessels and Blood (T32) (PI- McCulloch)
HONORS AND AWARDS:
Phi Beta Kappa, Cornell University, 1967
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Faculty Development Award, 1979 – 1981
Young Investigator Award, NHLBI, 1979-1982
Established Investigator Award, American Heart Association, 1981–1985
Faculty Distinguished Lecturer, University of California San Diego, 1998
NHLBI/Baker Research Institute US/Australia Exchange Fellow, 1998 – 1999
White Memorial Lecturer, Loyola University, 2001
Fellow of the American Heart Association (F.A.H.A.), 2001
Fellow of the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR), 2004
Louis S. Goodman Lecturer (OHSU), 2004
Chair, Molecular Pharmacology Gordon Research Conference, 1999
1st Annual Distinguished Ph.D. Alumna Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 2007
Benedict R. Lucchesi Distinguished Lectureship in Cardiac Pharmacology for 2009
PhRMA Foundation Award in Excellence for 2009
Kaiser Excellence in Teaching Award nominee, 2009
ASPET Molecular Pharmacology Awards Symposium Keynote speaker, 2010
Chair, Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms Gordon Research Conference, 2010
NHLBI Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award for NIH grant HL028143, 2010
San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award, 2011
Emory Distinguished Lecturer in Pharmacology Award, 2013
AHA Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS) Distinguished Achievement Award, 2012
ISHR Janice Pfeffer Distinguished Lecture, 2014
Luis G. Melo Memorial Lecture in Molecular Cardiology, Queen’s University 2016
ASPET Otto Krayer Award in Pharmacology, 2017
Keynote Speaker, 5th Annual Celebration for UCSD New Women Faculty, La Jolla, CA May 2017
Arthur Briggs Lectureship, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, October 2017
Keynote Speaker, ASPET Great Lakes Chapter, 31st Annual Meeting, June 2018
UCSD Inaugural Faculty Leadership Academy 2018
Keynote Speaker, Cardiac Muscle Society Meeting, 2020
ASPET Robert R. Ruffolo Career Achievement Award in Pharmacology, 2020
Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (FASPET), 2020
ASPET Julius Axelrod Award in Pharmacology, 2021.
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
American Heart Association (AHA)
American Physiology Society (APS)
International Society for Heart Research (ISHR)
Society for Neuroscience
EDITORIAL BOARDS:
Editor in Chief, Molecular Pharmacology, 2000 – 2003
Associate Editor, Molecular Pharmacology, 2003 – 2005
Editorial Board, Molecular Pharmacology, 1984 – 2000; 2017 – present
Editorial Board, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1988 – 1994
Editorial Board, American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, 1998 – 1999
Editorial Advisory Board, Molecular Interventions, 2000 – 2010
Editorial Board, Cellular Signaling, 1990 – present
Editorial Board, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, 1999 – present
Advisory Board, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 2002 – present
Editorial Board, Circulation, 2003 – 2016
Editorial Board, Circulation Research, 2003 – 2018
Editorial Advisory Board, Life Sciences 2013 – present
Editorial Advisory Board, Molecular Pharmacology 2017 – present
TRAINING EXPERIENCE:
Doctoral Committee member: 130 PhD Thesis Committees
Thesis advisor:
Glenn Wetzel, Susan Brown Masters, Stephanie Orellana, Ioanna Trilivas, James Eubanks, JoAnn Trejo, Terrie Ramirez, Lila Collins, Mousumi Majumdar, Valerie Tan-Sah, Sarah Moskowitz Sagi, Michael Morissette, Amy Pagel Howes, Chris Means, Dominic Del Re, Shikha Mishra, Stephanie Dusaban, Charles Gray, Olivia Wu, Andrew Willeford
Postdoctoral advisor/research scientist mentor:
Patrick McDonough, Linda K. Jones, Lawrence Quilliam, Betsy Martinson, Haruo Abe, Eleanor Kennedy, Maria Nieto, Ginell Post, Tania Massamiri, Xiao-Lan Zhao, John Adams, Tammy Seasholtz, Eric Johnson, Tong Zhang, Shuji Kawamura, Chun-Yang Xiao, Shigeki Miyamoto, Rosalia Matteo, Julie Radeff-Huang, Simona Citro, Colin Walsh, Geir Florholmen, Haiyun Ling, Michael Grimm, Nicole Purcell, Sunny Yang Xiang, Nekeisha Nogal, Jacqueline Sayyah, Xia Zhao, Daan Westenbrink, Alessandra Castaldi, Takeshi Suetomi, Cameron Brand, Takeshi Suetomi, Olga Chaim, Van Ninh, Anabel Flores
Visiting scholar/exchange student advisor:
Prakesh Sulakhe, Haruo Abe, Michel Puceat, Elizabeth Woodcock, Hiroshi Yoshida, Deirdre O’Shaughnessey, Jorge Carretero-Ortega, Min Kyung Cho, Anna Aragay, Cristiane Benincá, Elena Hernandez, Tolani Olonisakin, Anna Ferreté Bonastre, Ramsinh Dodia, Olga Chaim, Jing Li , Gisela Zalcman
OUTSIDE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE:
National Institutes of Health
NIH Pharmacological Sciences Review Committee, 1987–1991;Program Project Grant Review Committee, 2006;Pharmacology Sciences Training Grant Site Visit Committee, 2006–2007;Myocardial Ischemia and Metabolism Study Section, adhoc member, 2009;Molecular and Integrative Signal Transduction Study Section, permanent member, 2009–2012
NIH Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) ZRG1 CBJ70, Common Fund Program "Illuminating the Druggable Genome" 2019, 2020
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)
ASPET Subcommittee on Women in Pharmacology, 1982-1992; Nominating Committee, 1986, 1998 (Chair); ASPET Award Selection Committee, 1985 and 1994; Executive Committee, Division for Molecular Pharmacology, 1997, 1998; Board of Publication Trustee, 1999-2003
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Burroughs Wellcome Visiting Professorship Committee, 1998–2001; FASEB Excellence in Science Award Committee, 2014–2017
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Equal Opportunity Committee
American Heart Association, National
Research Study Section, 1987 - 1988, 1988 - 1989
Katz Prize Committee, 1995 - 1997
Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, (Program Committee) 2004 - 2008
Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, (Leadership Committee) 2003 - 2005, 2010 - 2014
American Heart Association, California (Western States) Affiliate
Peer Review Committee, 1992, 1993 - 1995 (Vice Chair), 1995 - 1997 (Chair); Research Committee, 1995-2000;Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council 2010-2012
Keystone Symposia Drug Discovery Study Group, 2008
International Society for Heart Research (ISHR)
Councilor, North American Section 2003 – 2005; 2012-present
Nominating Committee (Chair), 2005 – 2006
World Congress, Chair, 2013
Gordon Research Conferences
Molecular Pharmacology, Vice-Chair 1997, Chair 1999;
Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms, Vice-Chair 2008, Chair 2010
University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Chair Review, Sept. 2008
National University of Singapore, Cluster Visiting Review Committee, Oct. 2016
Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Review, Nov. 2016
Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs (AMSPC) Councilor, 2020 – 2023
Center for Circadian Biology (CCB), External Advisory Board Executive Committee, 2019-present
INVITED SEMINARS, PRESENTATIONS AND SYMPOSIA (last ten years):
Keystone Symposium on Molecular Cardiology, Keystone, CO, February 2011
La Jolla Cardiovascular International Collaborative Research Conference, La Jolla, CA, March 2011
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Integrative Biology & Pharmacology Seminar, Houston, TX, April 2011
International Society for Heart Research North American Section Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, May, 2011
FASEB Summer Research Conference: Regulation and Function of Small GTPases, Saxtons River, VT, June, 2011
AHA BCVS Conference, New Orleans, LA, July 2011
FASEB Summer Research Conference: Lysophospholipid Mediators in Health and Disease, Lucca, Italy, August 2011
AHA Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, November 2011
AMSPC Chairs Meeting, Maui, HI, January 2012
Experimental Biology Meeting, San Diego, CA, April, 2012
Cardiology Research Speaker, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, May 2012
Wells Center Seminar at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, May 2012
International Society for Heart Research North American Section Meeting, Banff, AB, Canada, May 2012
GRC Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms, New London, NH, June 2012
GRC Phosphorylation & G-Protein Mediated Signaling Networks, Biddeford, ME, June 2012
International Society for Heart Research Australian Section Meeting, Brisbane, Australia, August 2012
University of Oklahoma, Department of Cell Biology, Annual student invited speaker October 2012
American Heart Association, Los Angeles, November 2012
Emory University of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, March 2013
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, March 2013
Keystone Symposia, Snowbird, UT, April 2013
HSFA Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL September 2013
AHA Scientific Session, Dallas, TX November 2013
AHA Go Red Building Research Event, UCSD February 6, 2014
Experimental Biology, San Diego, CA, April 2014
ISHR, Miami, May 2014
International Society for Heart Research, Barcelona, June 2014
Basic Cardiovascular Research, Las Vegas, July 2014
Biological Regulation and Enzyme Activity in Normal and Neoplastic tissues, Bologna, Italy, September 2014
12th annual CHFR symposium on heart failure, Oslo, Norway, September 2014
GRC, Molecular Pharmacology, Ventura, California, February 2015
Cornell University, New York, May 2015
Rutgers University, New Jersey, May 2015
ISHR, North American Section meeting, Seattle, June 2015
BCVS, New Orleans, July 2015
AHA, Scientific Sessions, Orlando, Nov 2015
Experimental Biology, San Diego, April, 2016
ISHR World Congress, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2016
Lipid Mediators in Health and Disease, San Diego, May 2016
GRC, Phosphorylation & G-Protein Mediated Signaling Networks, Biddeford, ME June 2016
FASEB SRC Phospholipid Signaling, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, August 2016
BCVS Scientific Sessions, Phoenix, Arizona, July 2016
Queen’s University, Luis G. Melo Memorial Lecture Series in Molecular Cardiology, Toronto, Canada, Oct 2016
University of Minnesota, Lillehei Heart Institute, Minneapolis, MN, Oct 2016
UC Davis, Frontiers in Pharmacology Seminar Series, Davis, CA, March 2017
Experimental Biology, Chicago, IL, April 2017
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL April 2017
Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute, 2016-2017 Cody Lecture Series, Cincinnati, OH, May 2017
ISHR, New Orleans, LA, May 2017
FASEB Science Research Conference, New Orleans, LA, August 2017
The Heart Institute, San Diego State University, October 2017
Arthur Briggs Lectureship, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, October 2017
AHA Scientific Sessions, Anaheim, November 2017
University of Washington Mitochondria and Metabolism Center, Seattle, WA December 2017
Experimental Biology, San Diego, CA, April 2018
World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, Kyoto, Japan, July 2018
ASPET Great Lakes Chapter, 31st Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL June 2018
BCVS, San Antonio, TX July 2018
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ September 2018
AHA Scientific Sessions Chicago, IL November 2018
ASCB-EMBO Joint Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA December 2018
UCSD-UCLA Diabetes Research Center Retreat, La Jolla, CA, April 2019
ISHR World Congress, Beijing, China, June 2019
Institute of Experimental Cardiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany, November 2019
University Medical Center, Göttingen, Germany, November 2019
Max Plank Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany, November 2019
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, November 2019 1/22/2020 12
University of Alabama, Comprehensive Cardiovascular Center (CCVC), Birmingham, AL, January 2020
Keynote Speaker, Cardiac Muscle Society Meeting, San Diego, CA, February 2020
ISHR North American Section, Denver, CO, May 2020
Gordon Research Conference, Phosphorylation and G protein Signaling Networks, NH, June 2020
NYAS, Immune Contribution to Heart Failure and Therapeutic Opportunities, NY Oct. 2020
Stanford Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science Virtual Series, Jan. 2021
Upcoming:
ISHR North American Section, Denver, CO, September 2021
Stanford Frontiers in Cardiovascular Science Virtual Series, Feb. 2022
19th World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology, Glasgow, Scotland, July 2022