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Faculty Detail    
Name JAMES MICHAEL WYSS
Professor
Director Center for Community OutReach Development (CORD)		  
Campus Address CH19 503 Zip 2041
Phone  (205) 934-5198
E-mail  jmwyss@uab.edu
Other websites http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=8048
     

Education
Undergraduate  Concordia University    1970  BS 
Graduate  Lutheran School of Theology    1974  MDiv 
Graduate  Washington University in St. Louis    1976  PhD 
Fellowship  Washington University in St. Louis    1979  Postdoc 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Professor
Secondary  Biology  Biology Professor
Secondary  Med - Cardiovascular Disease  Med - Cardiovascular Disease Professor
Secondary  Neurobiology  Neurobiology Professor
Secondary  Psychology  Psychology Professor
Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center  Alzheimer's Disease Center Professor
Center  Center for Biophysical Sciences/Engineering  Center for Biophysical Sciences/Engineering Professor
Center  Civitan International Research Center  Civitan International Research Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center  Comprehensive Diabetes Center Professor
Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center  Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Professor
Center  Med - Cardiovascular Disease  Ctr Cardiovasc Bio (Org Ret) Professor
Center  Ctr Com Outreach Dev (CORD)  Ctr Com Outreach Dev (CORD) Professor
Center  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med  Ctr for Glial Bio in Med Professor
Center  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET)  Ctr Neurodegeneration & Exp Ther (CNET) Professor
Center  GL Ctr for Craniofacial, Oral, & Dental Disorders  GL Ctr for Craniofacial, Oral, & Dental Disorders Professor
Center  Integrative Center for Aging Research  Integrative Center for Aging Research Professor
Center  Nutrition Sciences Research  Nutrition Obesity Res Ctr (NORC) Professor
Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center  UWIRC Microbiome Center Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program 
Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics 
Integrative Genetics Graduate Program 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Neuroscience 
Neuroscience Graduate Program 
Neurosciences 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. J. Michael Wyss (b. 1948), Professor (Cell Biology, Medicine, Neurobiology and Psychology) and Director (Center for Community OutReach Development), completed his undergraduate studies in neurobiology at Concordia College, Indiana (B.S., 1970), and received a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Washington University (St. Louis) in 1976. During his postdoctoral studies at Washington University School of Medicine he applied cell biological methods to elucidate the role of the limbic cortex in behavior and autonomic control, and has continued to expand this research at Birmingham (1979-present). His work on the central control of the autonomic nervous system has propelled him into the studies of the neurocellular mechanisms controlling arterial pressure. Outside of the laboratory he enjoys swimming, soccer and photography.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
AAALAC, International  Member of Council   
American Heart Association     
American Physiological Society  Member of Council   
Society for Neuroscience     
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Neuroplasticity in aging and neuro cardiovascular control
Description
Michael Wyss is Director of the UAB Center for Community Outreach Development (CORD), and thereby directs much of the University’s K-12 STEM education outreach, and he developed several new programs and expanded previously successful programs. Further, Dr. Wyss has formed outstanding alliances with all of the area school districts. Dr. Wyss has focused CORD on empowering K-12 science, math and technology education, especially for underrepresented and minority students, in large part, by providing their teachers the requisite knowledge base and effective, inquiry-based tools to educate their students. Dr. Wyss’s biomedical research focuses on two major areas. The first research focus is on neuronal plasticity and grows out of his studies demonstrating that a specific group of pyramidal neurons in the rat retrosplenial cortex displays a dramatic alteration in their structure as the animal ages. Concurrent with these changes in structure, they have demonstrated that cellular, molecular and behavioral changes occur, including a significant decrease in spatially learning. The second research focus is on the mechanisms by which the hypothalamus regulates blood pressure in salt-sensitive individuals. This work has recently focused on the ability of polyphenols to blunt hypertension. These studies employ cellular and molecular techniques, transgenic manipulations in mouse, neural recordings, nerve pathway tracing and plasticity measures, biochemical analyses, MS/MS, FRAP/FRET, etc. This work is currently most focused on the ability of puerarin to blunt metabolic disease components, especially the ability of this polyphenol to regulate lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Jirakulsomchoka D, N. Soikhama, N. Kunbootsria, P. Wannanonda, T. Suttituma, T. Tongoona, S. Roysommuti and J.M. Wyss. Impaired renal response to portal infusion of hypertonic saline in adriamycin-treated rats. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 39:636-41, 2012.   PMC3566362 
Prasain, J.K., N. Peng, R. Rajbhandari, J. M. Wyss. The Chinese Pueraria root extract (Pueraria lobota) ameliorates impaired glucose and lipid metabolism in obese mice. Phytomedicine, 20:17– 23, 2012.   PMC3513565 
Carlson, S.H., J.V. Prassain, N. Peng, Y. Dai and J.M. Wyss. Acute and chronic kudzu improves plasma glucose tolerance in non-diabetic CD-1 mice. In Press, Journal of Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus 2:70-77, 2014.  PMC5330362 
Che, P., Chen, Y., Lu, R., Peng, N., Gannon, M., Wyss, JM, Jiao, K, Wang, Q. Spinophilin is indispensable for the α2B adrenergic receptor-elicited hypertensive response.PLOS ONE, 10:e0135030, 2015  PMC4526467 
Schwartz T.S., R. Gainer, E.D. Dohm, M.S. Johnson, J.M. Wyss, D.B. Allison. Second-hand eating? Maternal perception of the food environment affects reproductive investment in mice. Obesity. 23:927-930, 2015.
 		 PMC4414731 
DeAndrade, M.P., Trongnetrpunya, A., Cheetham, C.C., Yokoi, F., Peng, N., Wyss, J.M. and Li, Y. Electromyographic evidence in support of a knock-in mouse model of DYT1 dystonia. Movement Disorders, in Press, 2016  PMC5115930 
Lerdweeraphon, W., J.M. Wyss, T. Boonmars and S. Roysommuti. Perinatal taurine exposure affects adult oxidative Rana, S., Pugh, P., Katz, E, Stringfellow, S, Lin, C.P., Wyss, J.M., Stauss, H., White, C.R. and Kerman, I. Independent Effects of Early-Life Experience and Trait Aggression on Cardiovascular Function" for which you are listed as co-author, has been sent to the corresponding author. AJP, 311:R272-286, 2016.   PMC5008659 
Jarrett, K., William, M., Horn, S., Radford, D. and Wyss, J.M. Sickle Cell Anemia: Tracking Down a Mutation: an interactive learning lab that communicates basic principles of genetics and cellular biology. Advances in Physiology Education. 40:110-115. 2016.   PMC4888518 
Chanavirut, R., Tong-un, T., Jirakulsomchok, D., Wyss J.M. and Roysommuti, S. Abnormal autonomic nervous system function in rural Thai men: a potential contributor to their high risk of sudden, unexplained nocturnal death syndrome. International Journal of Cardiology, 226:87–92, 2017.   
Roysommuti, S. and J.M. Wyss. Taurine exposure affects cardiac function and disease. In Watson, R.R., et al. (Eds), Handbook of Nutrition in Heart Health. Wageningen Publishing, London, in Press, 2017.   
 

Keywords
Alzheimers, hypertension, neuronal plasticity, behavior, blood pressure, botanicals, STEM education