Director, Emergency Medicine Preclinical Research

Cannon Research Center

Email:

Education:

Professional Experience:

• Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Drew University, 1969
• Instructor, Children's School for Science, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, summer, 1971
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, 1971-1975, 1977
• Research Assistant, University of Maryland, 1976
• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Pennsylvania State University, M.S. Hershey Medical Center, 1977- 1979
• Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Department of Biology, 1979-1985
• Associate Professor, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Department of Biology, 1985-1990
• Professor, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Department of Biology, 1990-1994
• Adjunct Professor & Program Faculty Interdisciplinary Ph.D., University of North Carolina Charlotte, Department of Biology, 1994-present
• Adjunct Research Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Emergency Medicine, 1994-1996
• Adjunct Research Associate Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Emergency Medicine, 1996-2003
• Adjunct Research Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Emergency Medicine, 2003 - present
• Associate Director, Emergency Medicine Research, Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, 1994-1995
• Director, Emergency Medicine Preclinical Research, Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, 1996-present

Research Interests:

• Cardiac injury from pulmonary embolism: Role of inflammation in the process of right ventricular injury and healing in response to pulmonary embolism. Clinical research indicates that some 40% of patients recovering from pulmonary embolism have measurable dysfunction in the right ventricle of their heart and about 12% have limited mobility as a result of this dysfunction, however the mechanisms responsible for this damage are poorly understood. Our studies examine the mechanisms of right ventricular stress, cellular damage, inflammation and healing in models of experimental pulmonary embolism.
• Cardio-pulmonary coupling during pulmonary embolism: Mechanisms limiting perfusion through patent blood vessels in the lungs during pulmonary embolism. Our studies examine regulation of pulmonary vascular resistance in vivo and pulmonary vascular pharmacology during pulmonary embolism.

Publications:

Watts, J.A., Marchick, M.R., Kline, J.A. Right ventricular heart failure from pulmonary embolism: Key distinctions from chronic pulmonary hypertension. J. Cardiac. Failure 2010;16(3):250-259.

Runyon, M.S., Gellar, M.A., Sanapareddy, N., Kline, J.A., Watts, J.A. Development and comparison of a minimally-invasive model of autologous clot pulmonary embolism in Sprague-Dawley and Copenhagen rats. Thrombosis J. 2010;8:3.

Watts, J.A., Gellar, M.A., Stuart, L.K., Obraztsova, M., Kline, J.A. Proinflammatory events in right ventricular damage during pulmonary embolism: Effects of treatment with Ketorolac in rats. J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. (in press, 2009).

Zagorski, J., Obraztsova, M., Gellar, M.A., Kline, J.A., Watts, J.A. Transcriptional changes in right ventricular tissues are enriched in the outflow tract compared with the apex during chronic pulmonary embolism in rats. Physiol. Genomics (in press, 2009)

Watts, J.A., Gellar, M.A., Obraztsova, M., Kline, J.A., Watts, J.A. Role of inflammation in right ventricular damage and repair following experimental pulmonary embolism in rats. Int. J. Exp. Path. 2008;89(4):389-399.

Zagorski, J., Sanapareddy, N., Gellar, M.A., Kline, J.A., Watts, J.A. Transcriptional profile of right ventricular tissue during acute pulmonary embolism in rats. Physiological Genomics 2008;34:101-111.

Zheng, J., Tian, Q., Hou, W., Watts, J.A., Schrum, L., Bonkovsky, H.L. Tissue-Specific Expression of ALA Synthase-1 and Heme Oxygenase-1 and Changes in Their Gene Expression in Livers of Rats Chronically Exposed to Ethanol . FEBS Letters 2008;582:1829-1834.

Zagorski, J., M.A. Gellar, M. Obraztsova, J.A. Kline, J.A. Watts. Inhibition of CINC-1 decreases right ventricular damage caused by experimental pulmonary embolism. J. Immunol. 2007;179:7820-7826.

Watts, J.A., J. Zagorski, M.A. Gellar, B.G. Stevinson, J.A. Kline. Cardiac inflammation contributes to right ventricular dysfunction following experimental pulmonary embolism in rats. J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 2006;41:296-307.

Watts, J.A., J.A. Kline, L.R. Thornton, R.M. Grattan, S.S. Brar. Metabolic dysfunction and depletion of mitochondria in hearts of septic rats. J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. 2004;36(1):141-150.

Watts, J.A., J.A. Kline. Bench-to-Bedside: The role of mitochondrial medicine in the pathogenesis and treatment of cellular injury. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2003:10(9)885-897.

Zagorski, J., J. Debelak, M. Gellar, J.A. Watts, J.A. Kline. Chemokines accumulate in the lungs of rats with severe pulmonary embolism induced by polystyrene microspheres. J. Immunol. 2003;171:5529-5536.

Jones, A.E., J.A. Watts, J.P. Debelak, L.R. Thronton, J.D. Younger, J.A. Kline. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis during polystyrene microsphere-induced pulmonary embolism in the rat. Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 2003;284(6):L1072-L1081.

Roshon, M.J., J.A. Kline, L.R. Thornton, J.A. Watts. Cardiac UCP2 expression and myocardial oxidative metabolism during acute septic shock in the rat. SHOCK 2003;19(6):570-576.

Courtney, D.M., J.A. Watts, J.A. Kline. End tidal CO₂ is reduced during hypotension and cardiac arrest in a rat model of massive pulmonary embolism. Resuscitation 2002;53(1);83-91.

Glimer, B., J. Kilkenny, C. Tomaszewski, J.A. Watts. Hyperbaric oxygen does not prevent delayed neurological sequelae after carbon monoxide poisoning. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2002;9(1):1-8.

Watts, J.A., R.M. Grattan II, B.S. Whitlow, J.A. Kline. Activation of Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase in Severe Hemorrhagic Shock and Resuscitation. Amer. J. Physiol. Gasterointest. Liver Physiol. 2001;281:G498-G506.

D. Matthew Sullivan, J.A. Watts, J.A. Kline. Biventricular dysfunction after acute pulmonary embolism in the rat. J. App. Physiol. 2001;90:1648-1656.

Custalow, C.B., J.A. Kline, L. Thornton, P. O’Malley, R.W. Barbee, R.M. Grattan, G.D. Lopaschuk, J.A. Watts. Substrate dependent recovery of cardiac function following hemorrhage and retransfusion in the isolated working rat heart. SHOCK 2001;15(3):231-238.