Totman Medical Research Trust

Vision

A premier research center on brain blood vessels, the Totman Medical Research Trust supports an interdepartmental, highly interactive research group focused on key aspects of brain artery function from molecules to clinical applications.

Participants

Trustees

Ms. Arlene Howard - Malone, NY

Mr. Donald Stone Jr. - Vienna, VA

Mr. Jeffrey Stone - Waterford, NY

Advisory Board

W. Jonathan Lederer, M.D., Ph.D. Professor and Director, Medical Biotechnology Center, University of Maryland; Visiting Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Vermont

Institutional Leadership

Richard L. Page, M.D.
Dean, College of Medicine

Gordon Jensen, M.D., Ph.D. Senior Associate Dean for Research

Brian Cote
Associate Dean for Finance and Administration, College of Medicine

 

 

Faculty

Mark T. Nelson, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology; Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics

George C. Wellman, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Surgery (Division of Neurosurgery)

Marilyn J. Cipolla, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Neurology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Pharmacology

Wolfgang R. Dostmann, Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Molecular Physiology & Biophysics

Kalev Freeman, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology

Albert L. Gonzales, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Osama Harraz, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Grant W. Hennig, Ph.D.  Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology 

Thomas Heppner, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Gerald Herrera, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

David Hill-Eubanks, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Masayo Koide, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Maria Sancho Gonzales, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology

Research Technical Support

Joseph Charles, M.S.
Research Technician, Dostmann Laboratory 

Daniel Enders
Research Technician, Nelson Laboratory

Hannah Ferris
Research Technician, Wellman Laboratory 

Nicholas Grubinger
Research Technician, Freeman Laboratory

Olivia Siroonian
Research Technician, Cipolla Laboratory

Adrian Sakheim
Research Technician, Freeman Laboratory

Sarah Tremble
Senior Research Technician, Cipolla Laboratory

Theresa Wellman 
Senior Research Technician, Nelson Laboratory

Post-Doctoral Trainees

Nicholas Klug, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Nelson Laboratory

Amreen Mughal, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Nelson Laboratories

Student Trainees

Connor Cronin
Graduate Student, Dostmann Lab

Nathalie Labinger
Undergraduate Student, Nelson Lab

Zhaojin Li
Graduate Student, Cipolla Lab

Elizabeth Pendlebury
Graduate Student, Dostmann Lab

Perin Patel
Undergraduate Student, Nelson Lab

 

2019 Totman Lecturer

Serge Charpak, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Director - INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research)
University of Paris
7-Denis Diderot
Paris, France

Publications

Mark T. Nelson, Ph.D.

1. *Moshkforoush A, Ashenagar B, Harraz OF, Dabertrand F, Longden TA, Nelson MT, Tsoukias NM.  The capillary Kir channel as sensor and amplifier of neuronal signals:  modeling insights on K+-mediated neurovascular communication.  Accepted for publication May 22, 2020.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2020 June 29:  202000151.  doi:  10.1073/pnas.2000151117.  PMID:  32601236

2. *Ratelade J, Klug NR, Lombardi D, Cruz Angelim MKS, Dabertrand F, Domenga-Denier V, Salam RA, et al.  Reducing Hypermuscularization of the Transitional Segment between Arterioles and Capillaries Protects Against Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.  Circulation, Epub. 2020 Mar 18.  doi: org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.040963, PMID:  32183562

3. *Zhao G, Joca HC, Nelson MT, Lederer WJ.  ATP-and voltage-dependent electro metabolic signaling regulates blood flow in heart.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.  2020 Mar 13.  doi:  10.1073/pnas.1922095117.  PMID:  32170008

4. *Dow N, Coleman JR, Moore H, Osborn ZT, Sackheim AM, Hennig G, Butenas S, Nelson MT, Moore EE, Freeman F.  Dense and dangerous:  The tissue plasminogen activator-resistant fibrinolysis shutdown phenotype is due to abnormal fibrin polymerization:  J Trauma Acute Care Surg.  2020 Feb;  88(2):  258-264.  doi:  10.1097/TA.0000000000002554.  PMID:  31999655

5. *Csato V, Kadir SZSA, Khavandi K, Bennett H, Sugden S, Gurney AM, Pritchard HT, Hill-Eubanks D, Eaton P, Nelson MT, Greenstein AS.  “A Step and a Ceiling”:  mechanical properties of Ca2+ spark vasoregulation in resistance arteries by pressure-induced oxidative activation of PKG. Physiol Rep.  2019 Nov;  7(22): e14260.  doi:  10.14814/phy2.14260.  PMID:  31782255, PMCID:  PMC6883097

 

George C. Wellman, Ph.D.

1. *Syed AU, Koide M, Brayden JE, Wellman GC. Tonic regulation of middle meningeal artery (MMA) diameter by ATP-sensitive potassium channels. J. Cereb Blood Flow Metab.  2019 Apr;  39(4):  670-679.  doi:  10.117/0271678X17749392.  PMID:  29260608, PMCID:  PMC6446425 

2. *Koide M, Collier DM, Ferris HR, Brayden JE, Nelson MT, Wellman GC (2019).  Activation of smooth muscle TRPV1 channels in non-brain arteries contributes to cerebral blood flow maintenance during acute decreases in blood pressure. Brain & Brain PET 2019, Yokohama, Japan, July 4-7, 2019. J. Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 39: 293-294 (meeting abstract).

Marilyn J. Cipolla, Ph.D.

1. *Li Z, Lindner D, Bishop N, and Cipolla MJ (2020): Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition reverses vasoconstriction and impaired dilation of pial collaterals in chronic hypertension. Hypertension (In press).

Book Chapter

1. *Whittaker E and Cipolla MJ. Perinatal Stroke Handbook of Clinical Neurology: Neurology and Pregnancy. Elsevier. Editors: Steegers EAP, Cipolla MJ and Miller E.

Wolfgang R. Dostmann, Ph.D.

1. *Averill AM, Rehman HT, Charles JW, Dinh TA, Danyal K, Verschraegen CF, Stein GS, Dostmann WR, Ramsey JE.  Inhibition of the chimeric DnaJ-PKAc enzyme by endogenous inhibitor proteins. J Cell Biochem. 2019 Aug; 120(8):  13783-13791. doi:  10.1002/jcb.28651.  PMID:  30938854 

 

Kalev Freeman, M.D.

1. *Villalba N, Osborn Z, Derickson P, Manning C, Herrington R, Kaminsky D, Freeman K. Diagnostic Performance of Pulse Cooximetry in the Emergency Department. Respiratory Care. 2019 Nov; 64(11):1351-1357. PMID: 31040204. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Adam S. Greenstein, M.D., Ph.D.

1. *Pritchard HAT, Griffin CS, Yamasaki E, Thakore P, Lane C, Greenstein AS, Earley S. Nanoscale Coupling of Junctophilin-2 and Ryanodine Receptors Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Contractility. PNAS (2019); 116(43): 21874-21881  

2. *Greenstein AS, Kadir S, Csato V, Baylie R, Sugden S, Eisner DA, Nelson MT. Disruption of pressure - induced Ca2+ spark vasoregulation of resistance arteries, rather than endothelial dysfunction, underlies obesity - related hypertension. Hypertension (2020);75(2):539-548 

 

*Totman Medical Research Fund Acknowledged

History

Mr. Ray W. Totman, a businessman from Malone, NY, established a foundation that would benefit medical schools in the New England area, particularly UVM in the mid-80s with net assets of $2-$3M.  Mr. Totman was an oil distributor and owned several gas stations in Malone.  He and his wife had no children.  Mr. Totman was disabled and he wanted his estate to be used to further medical research and to find solutions for health problems, particularly stroke research.

Mr. Totman died in 1988, and in the fall of that same year, UVM learned that $150,000 was bequeathed to the College of Medicine with the possibility of additional funds with proper proposals.  All gifts were to be exclusively devoted to scientific or medical research in areas such as cancer, heart disease or any other disease his trustees might select.  In his will, Mr. Totman singled out UVM as one of four institutions that would benefit from his foundation.

The first gift to UVM was received in August 1989 in the amount of $250,000.  At that time, UVM established the "Ray W. Totman and Ildah Totman Medical Research Fund".  The money was used to "construct, equip and operate a laboratory for scientific and medical research concerning Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease".  The Totman Lab was established in the Department of Pharmacology, under Dr. John Bevan, Chair, and Dr. Rosemary Bevan.  Since 1996 it has been under the supervision of Dr. Mark T. Nelson, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology.

The Totman Foundation contributions totaling over $4.25 million as of 2017, have enabled Dr. Nelson and his colleagues to make significant scientific discoveries in cerebrovascular research that have been published in esteemed journals and have received international recognition.  This recognition has helped our researchers to secure significant funding from the NIH and international sources.

The following is a list of the Trustees and their years of service.

William Herron          1988-1993

Marguerite Boyer       1988-1995

Donald E. Stone        1988-2014

Robert G. Main, Jr.    1993-1998 

Jeffrey Stone            1995-present

Arlene Howard          1998-present

Donald Stone, Jr.      2014-present

The following is a list of Deans of the UVM College of Medicine and their service during the Totman Foundation relationship.

William Hossfeld Luginbuhl   1970-1991 

John W. Frymoyer               1991-2000

Joseph B. Warshaw             2000-2003

John N. Evans                    2004-2006

Frederick C. Morin III         2007-2018

Richard L. Page                 2018-present