Maria Bloksgaard group

Maria Bloksgaard

The research focus of my group is to understand the molecular mechanisms behind acute and chronic vascular dysfunction i the aged human and in patients with hypertension and diabetes.

We are housed at The Research unit of Cardiovascular and Renal Research, Department of Molecular Medicine, J.B. Winsløwsvej 21, 3.floor

Our experimental work is on biopsies obtained from patients undergoing planned cardiothoracic surgeries at Odense University hospital. Patients receiving cardiothoracic surgeries should be studied extensively because these individuals need new concepts and targets for treatment of their diseases in addition to the current pharmacotherapies. 

Methods: Resistance arteries obtained from patients with and without ischemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes are studied alive, ex vivo by means of functional fluorescence microscopy, biomechanical testing and pharmacological methods (acute effects of pharmacological interventions). Meta-analyses are conducted on data obtained for a broad range of patients to investigate the chronic vascular effects of antihypertensive and antidiabetic pharmacological treatments in the ageing human microcirculation based on acquired structural/functional data in relation to patients’ information on disease, pharmacotherapy, biochemistry, and arterial wall proteome analyses. See also our JoVE methods publication on analyses of the microarchitecture and mechanics of resistance arteries.

 

Projects: Microarchitecture and mechanics of resistance arteries, Oxidative stress and vascular (dys)function, The effect of age on vascular mechanics, Antidiabetic treatment and vascular (dys)function.

Student projects: please send an email to mbloksgaard(at)health.sdu.dk to hear about opportunities - your own ideas for projects are welcome

Members of the laboratory:
Jo De Mey (Professor and team mate/shared laboratory)
Atlanta Elie (PhD Student)
Maximilian Matthies (PhD Student)
Inger Nissen (technician)
Kristoffer Rosenstand (technician)
and a variable number of pharmacy, biomedical, and medical students

Image to the right: Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy image of a rat mesenteric resistance artery. Magenta: elastin autofluorescence, cyan: DAPI (nuclei)

Collaborators:
Within University of Southern Denmark:
Jo De Mey (Vascular Physiology of Pharmacology)
Jonathan Brewer (Danish Molecular Biomedical Imaging Center, Dept. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)
Grith Lykke Sørensen (Institute of Molecular Medicine, Cancer and Inflammation)
Adam Cohen Simonsen (Dept Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy)
Niels Marcussen, Department of Pathology
Sören Möller, Odense Patient data Exploratory Network
Within Odense University Hospital:
Lars Melholt Rasmussen, CIMA
Akhmadjon Irmukhamedov
Lars P. Riber
Hans Kristian Bech
International:
Luis Martinez-Lemus (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA)
Zhe Sun (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA)
Koen Reesink (Maastricht University, NL)
Yu Wang (University of Hong Kong, PRC)
Aaron Trask, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Maria Bloksgaard SDU official webpage

Publications 2018-07_Dambic PUBL.pdf