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null Rhian Touyz, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. (Med), MBBCh, PhD

Senior Scientist, RI-MUHC, Glen site

Cardiovascular Health Across the Lifespan Program

Centre for Translational Biology

Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University

 

Keywords

hypertension • cardiovascular disease • vascular biology • oxidative stress • signal transduction • renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system • cation transporters • small vessel disease • NOX biology

Research Focus

Life expectancy is increasing, but with this improvement, rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke are rising. This has a major impact on the global health burden. Causes of these diseases are due to many factors. However, the number one risk factor is high blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension is characterized by damaged blood vessels, which leads to heart and kidney disease, dementia and stroke. Preventing or reversing vessel damage is a medical challenge, since exact processes that control vessels remain unclear. My research focuses on unravelling the molecular and cellular processes that lead to vessel damage. We focus on reactive oxygen species, signaling molecules, hormones, and enzymes that cause damage to cells in the vessel wall. Our goal is to identify new mechanisms and targeted therapies that will promote vessel health and prevent hypertension-associated complications. This will lead to reduced cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, stroke and vascular dementia and improved societal health.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Touyz RM, de Baaij JHF, Hoenderop JGJ. Magnesium Disorders. N Engl J Med. 2024 Jun 6;390(21):1998-2009. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1510603. PMID: 38838313.

  • Camargo LL, Montezano AC, Hussain M, Wang Y, Zou Z, Rios FJ, Neves KB, Alves-Lopes R, Awan FR, Guzik TJ, Jensen T, Hartley RC, Touyz RM. Central role of c-Src in NOX5- mediated redox signalling in vascular smooth muscle cells in human hypertension. Cardiovasc Res. 2022;118(5):1359-1373. doi:10.1093/cvr/cvab171. PMID: 34320175.

  • Rios FJ, Zou ZG, Harvey AP, Harvey KY, Camargo LL, Neves KB, Nichol SEF, Alves-Lopes R, Cheah A, Zahraa M, Ryazanov AG, Ryazanova L, Gudermann T, Chubanov V, Montezano AC, Touyz RM. TRPM7 deficiency exacerbates cardiovascular and renal damage induced by aldosterone-salt. Commun Biol. 2022 Jul 26;5(1):746. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03715z. PMID: 35882956.

  • Neves KB, Harvey AP, Moreton F, Montezano AC, Rios FJ, Alves-Lopes R, Nguyen Dinh Cat A, Rocchicciolli P, Delles C, Joutel A, Muir K, Touyz RM. ER stress and Rho kinase activation underlie the vasculopathy of CADASIL. JCI Insight. 2019;4(23):e131344. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.131344. PMID: 31647781.

  • Camargo LL, Rios FJ, Montezano AC, Touyz RM. Reactive oxygen species in hypertension. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2024 Jul 24. doi: 10.1038/s41569-024-01062-6.