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Publications

Free Radical Biology and Aging Research Program

Luke I. Szweda, Ph.D. Member and Program Chair, Free Radical Biology and Aging   Research Program Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Diabetes,   University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Visiting Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Univercite Paris 7, Paris, France

Research Interests
Cardiovascular disease, characterized by loss of myocardial function and, in the long term, development of heart failure, is a leading cause of debilitation and death in an increasingly obese and elderly population.  Required for the maintenance of cardiac energy status and function, mitochondria exhibit increases in the production of oxygen-derived free radicals and deficits in function during the progression of cardiovascular disease.  Free radical species can induce irreversible oxidative damage but are also capable of altering protein function reversibly, thereby acting as regulatory molecules.  Our research seeks to define biochemical mechanisms by which alterations in redox status regulate mitochondrial function and age- and obesity-related alterations that promote the progression to irreversible oxidative damage and loss in viability.  We utilize biophysical, biochemical and physiological approaches to define targets, mechanisms, and metabolic consequences of oxidative modification.  Information gained from these studies is required to delineate pathways and physiological implications of redox regulation and for the development of effective strategies to treat and/or prevent the progression of cardiovascular disease.

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 2005.

Mailing Address
Free Radical Biology and Aging Research Program, MS 21
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-7582
Fax: (405) 271-1437
E-mail: Luke-Szweda@omrf.org