Mary Garry, PhD

The Garry lab has two major areas of focus. The first area of focus is the neural control of cardiovascular responses to exercise. Specifically, the lab focuses on the Exercise Pressor Reflex which is a reflex activated by skeletal muscle contraction. The Garry lab has developed novel rodent models (rat and mouse) to explore the mechanisms that mediate this reflex in both physiological and pathological states. Abnormal function of this reflex occurs in a variety of diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, and diabetes and extreme abnormalities serves as a poor prognostic indicator. The goal of the lab is to identify specific mechanisms that underlie the abnormal reflex in various disease such that normalization of the reflex can be targeted with novel therapies. The second area of focus for the Garry lab is the generation of humanized organs for 1) novel human research models and 2) transplantation purposes. To that end, we have generated several models in which pigs develop humanized organs. Specifically, we have developed pigs with human skeletal muscle and pigs with human blood vessels and blood. These models will be used to generate unique research models and even allow for a new form of clinical trial without human risk. Additionally, we are developing organs for human transplantation purposes that will treat injury based deficits such as volumetric muscle loss. Moreover, these technologies can treat peripheral artery disease and can help to meet the staggering demand for human blood and platelets.Come work with us! Visit https://med.umn.edu/lhi/about/jobs to see open positions in the Mary Garry lab.