Dr. Roland Pittman
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Contact Information
Department of Physiology and Biophysics Virginia Commonwealth University P.O. Box 980551 Richmond, Virginia 23298-0551 Tel: 804-828-9545 Fax: 804-828-7382 email: pittman@vcu.edu |
Roland N. Pittman received his S.B. in Physics in 1966 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) in Physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dr. Pittman's postdoctoral training was completed with Dr. Brian R. Duling in the Physiology Department of the University of Virginia. He joined VCU in 1974.
Research
An adequate supply of oxygen is required for the normal function of mammalian tissues. In my laboratory, various aspects of the transport of oxygen within the circulation and from blood to tissue are being investigated at the level of the microcirculation. The microcirculation is the intricate network of vessels carrying the blood that supplies oxygen to cells. Using state-of-the-art optical and electronic techniques, we can determine the rate at which oxygen moves through the microcirculation and from blood to tissue. We are currently studying the various geometric and hemodynamic factors that determine oxygen exchange in striated muscle. An important goal of this work is to understand what alterations take place in the microcirculation relative to oxygen transport during the transition from rest to steady-state muscle contraction. Results from this research should provide information about the coupling between muscle metabolism and the microcirculation. Current experimental studies utilize intravital video microscopy and computerized image analysis to obtain the pertinent geometric, hemodynamic and oxygenation data from vascular networks composed of arterioles, capillaries and venules. More recently this work has been expanded to include the interactions among oxygen, hemoglobin and nitric oxide, by studying the roles of these important molecules in pathophysiological states, such as hypertension and hemorrhage, and the use of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers in the treatment of anemia. These experimental studies are augmented by theoretical modeling carried out with colleagues in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Teaching
My teaching activities include graduate and undergraduate medical education targeted toward the cardiovascular system. My lectures include the areas of hemodynamics, microcirculation and regulation of blood pressure and blood flow in graduate mammalian physiology courses and in the medical school physiology course. I also participate in specialized advanced graduate courses related to the cardiovascular system, as well as in laboratory research training of medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
Selected Publications
Golub, A.S. and Pittman, R.N. Erythrocyte-associated transients in PO2 revealed in capillaries of rat mesentery. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 288:H2735-2743, 2005. PubMed
Pittman, R.N. Oxygen transport and exchange in the microcirculation. Microcirculation 12:59-70, 2005.
Torres Filho, I.P., Terner, J., Pittman, R.N., Somera III, L.G., and Ward, K.R. Hemoglobin oxygen saturation measurements using resonance Raman intravital microscopy. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 289:H488-495, 2005.
Smith, L.M., Barbee, R.W., Ward, K.R., and Pittman, R.N. Decreased supply-dependent oxygen consumption in the skeletal muscle of the spontaneously hypertensive rat during acute hypoxia. Shock 25:618-624, 2006.
Golub, A.S., Barker, M.C., and Pittman, R.N. PO2 profiles near arterioles and tissue oxygen consumption in the rat mesentery. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 293:1097-1106, 2007.
Tsoukias, N.M., Goldman, D., Vadapalli, A., Pittman, R.N., and Popel, A.S. A computational model of oxygen delivery by hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers in three-dimensional microvascular networks. J. Theor. Biol. 248:657-674, 2007.
Affiliate Listings
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Emergency Medicine