Biography
Dr. Resta received his Ph.D. from the UNM School of Medicine in 1995 and continued at UNM on an NIH postdoctoral fellowship until 1998. Following postdoctoral training, he joined the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology as a research assistant professor in 1998, and as a tenure-track assistant professor in 2000 following a national search. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2006, and to Professor in 2012. Dr. Resta was appointed Senior Associate Dean for Research Education at the School of Medicine in 2020, Interim Senior Associate Dean for Research in 2022, and was named a Regents' Professor in 2022.
Personal Statement
Dr. Resta has established a productive NIH-funded research program to understand mechanisms of pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic obstructive lung diseases, sleep apnea, and high-altitude exposure. He has been actively engaged in cardiovascular research since 1990 and has served as PI on multiple NIH R01 grants and other national-level awards over the past 25 years. His research has appreciated broad-based recognition by the national and international scientific community, exemplified by service on a variety of NIH and American Heart Association study sections, associate editor and editorial board memberships, selection as a Fellow of the American Heart Association, as Fellow of the American Physiological Society, invited seminars and symposia, and leadership roles on national science committees. His research accomplishments have been recognized by the Faculty Research Excellence Award for Basic Science Research, the highest research recognition bestowed at the Health Sciences Center. He later received the UNM Regents' Professor Award in 2022, celebrating remarkable contributions across the principal domains of academic pursuit: teaching, scholarly works, and administrative service to the University. In 2024, Dr. Resta received the UNM Faculty Research Award, which recognizes exceptional achievements and significant contributions in research by UNM faculty.
Dr. Resta has also made meritorious contributions to graduate, medical, and undergraduate education and junior faculty development at UNM. He has served in many curriculum development and educational administrative positions at the UNM Health Sciences Center, including Chair of the Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal Block in the Phase I medical curriculum, as director of several Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP) courses, and as a member of both BSGP and MD/PhD steering committees. Nationally he serves on advisory boards for NIH diversity training programs in research education.
His former undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees have been highly successful in obtaining extramural training fellowships, both mentored and independent NIH grants, and industry, government and faculty-level academic positions. In addition, he is the Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded T32 Minority Institutional Research Training Grant that supports both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Dr. Resta has also been actively involved as a mentor and teacher in our BSGP, MD/PhD program, UPN Program, and medical curriculum for many years, and has received the School of Medicine’s Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for his contributions to both the BSGP and Phase I medical curriculum. In 2017, he was presented the William G. Dail Award for outstanding and lasting contributions as a teacher, mentor, and leader in the medical and graduate education programs at the UNM School of Medicine.
As Senior Associate Dean for Research Education, Dr. Resta has led innovative programs in research education, including undergraduate, MS and PhD in Biomedical Sciences, MD/PhD, and the Master of Science in Clinical Research programs at the School of Medicine. He recently developed a new Postdoctoral Affairs program that, in collaboration with the Central Campus Office of the Vice President for Research, provides improved support, oversight, and campus-wide training opportunities for postdoctoral scholars. More recently, Dr. Resta was appointed Interim Senior Associate Dean for Research at the School of Medicine where he leads faculty research education and support programs.
Areas of Specialty
Vascular physiology
Pulmonary hypertension
Vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cell signaling
Achievements & Awards
UNM Faculty Research Award, 2024
UNM Regents’ Professor Award, 2022.
Learning Environment Office Teaching Excellence Recognition Awards, 2020-present.
Faculty Research Excellence Award for Basic Science Research, UNM Health Sciences Center, 2019.
Fellow of the American Physiological Society (FAPS), 2019.
HIPPO Award, Best Lecturer in Phase I as voted by the UNM M.D. Class of 2021.
William G. Dail Award for outstanding and lasting contributions as a teacher, mentor and leader in the medical and graduate education programs at the UNM School of Medicine, 2017-2020.
Educational Excellence Award for Faculty, Teaching, Phase I Medical Curriculum, UNM School of Medicine, 2014-2015.
Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA), Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, 2011; Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care and Resuscitation, 2013.
Educational Excellence Award for Faculty, Teaching, Phase I Medical Curriculum, UNM School of Medicine, 2010-2011.
Fellow of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute, 2010.
New Investigator Award, American Physiological Society, Respiration Section, 2005.
Educational Excellence Award for Faculty, Teaching, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, UNM School of Medicine, 2004-2005.
Parker B. Francis Fellowship in Pulmonary Research, Harvard School of Public Health, 2000-2003.
Dean’s Award of Distinction in Recognition of Outstanding Faculty Performance, UNM Health Sciences Center, 2000.
Key Publications
Journal Article
Norton, C, E Jernigan, Nikki, Walker, B, R Resta, Tom, 2020 Membrane depolarization is required for pressure-dependent pulmonary arterial tone but not enhanced vasoconstriction to endothelin-1 following chronic hypoxia. Pulmonary circulation, vol. 10, Issue 4, 2045894020973559
Journal Article
Yan, S, Resta, Tom, Jernigan, Nikki, 2020 Vasoconstrictor Mechanisms in Chronic Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension: Role of Oxidant Signaling. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 9, Issue 10 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/9/10/999
Gender
Male
Research
Dr. Resta’s current research program involves two main projects that examine the contribution of inflammation and oxidant signaling to pulmonary hypertension (pHTN). The first is to identify vascular smooth muscle (VSM) signaling mechanisms responsible for PKC and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated pulmonary vasoconstriction, and to define the role of this signaling pathway in chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH)-dependent increases in vasoconstrictor reactivity, arterial remodeling and associated pHTN in a clinically relevant rodent model of sleep apnea. The second project examines mechanisms by which chronic sustained hypoxia mediates pressure-dependent pulmonary VSM tone, augments vasoconstrictor reactivity, and their contribution to the development of pHTN. These mechanisms involve inflammation-associated activation of a Src kinase/EGFR signaling mechanism in pulmonary VSM that confers mechanical, electrical and chemical transduction to NADPH oxidase-derived O2- production, RhoA-mediated vasoconstriction, arterial remodeling and pHTN.
Courses Taught
Course Director and Lecturer, Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal Block, Phase I Medical Curriculum, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Course Director and Lecturer, Advanced Topics in Cellular and Systems Physiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Course Director, Cardiovascular Biology Journal Club/Seminar, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Course Director and Lecturer, Graduate Physiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Research and Scholarship
Dr. Resta's laboratory employs a wide array of technical approaches to assess mechanisms of pulmonary hypertension, including measurement of hemodynamic variables in conscious, chronically instrumented rats, simultaneous assessment of vasoreactivity and vessel wall [Ca2+]i in isolated, pressurized small pulmonary arteries, and a variety of cellular imaging and molecular approaches to study both Ca2+ and oxidant signaling in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Below is a link to Dr. Resta's complete published work, along with some representative publications:
Complete List of Published Work (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=resta+tc+OR+%28resta+t+AND+bosc+lv+AND+kanagy%29&sort=pubdate)
Chronic hypoxia imparts myogenicity and augments vasoconstriction: role for membrane cholesterol regulation of a novel oxidant signaling pathway in vascular smooth muscle
Weise-Cross L, Sands MA, Sheak JR, Broughton BRS, Snow JB, Gonzalez Bosc LV, Jernigan NL, Walker BR, Resta TC. Actin polymerization contributes to enhanced pulmonary vasoconstrictor reactivity following chronic hypoxia. Am J Physiol. 314:H1011-H1021, 2018. (Associated Editorial: Aaronson PI. Actin polymerization contributes to ROS- and Rho-dependent Ca2+ sensitization in pulmonary arteries from chronic hypoxic rats. Am J Physiol. 515(2):H314-H317, 2018)
Norton CE, Sheak JR, Yan S, Weise-Cross L, Jernigan NL, Walker BR, Resta TC. Augmented pulmonary vasoconstrictor reactivity following chronic hypoxia requires Src kinase and epidermal growth factor receptor signaling. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 62(1):61-73, 2020. (Associated Editorial: Gao Y, Raj JU. Src and EGFR: Novel partners in mediating chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery hypertension. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 62(1):5-7, 2020.)
Norton CE, Weise-Cross L, Ahmadian R, Yan S, Jernigan NL, Paffett ML, Naik JS, Walker BR, Resta TC. Altered lipid domains facilitate enhanced pulmonary vasoconstriction following chronic hypoxia. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 62(6):709-718, 2020. (Associated Editorial: Grimmer B, Kuebler WM. Cholesterol - a novel regulator of vasoreactivity in pulmonary arteries. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 62(6):671-673, 2020.)
Yan S, Sheak JR, Walker BR, Jernigan NL, Resta TC. Contribution of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species to chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Antioxidants.12(12):2060, 2023.
Mechanisms of enhanced pulmonary vasoreactivity following chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) and in neonatal pulmonary hypertension: role of PKCbeta and mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) signaling
Sheak JR, Yan S, Weise-Cross L, Ahmadian R, Walker BR, Jernigan NL, Resta TC. PKCb and reactive oxygen species mediate enhanced pulmonary vasoconstrictor reactivity following chronic hypoxia in neonatal rats. Am J Physiol. 318 (2), H470-H483, 2020. (APSselect Award for distinction in scholarship)
Snow JB, Norton CE, Sands SA, Weise-Cross L, Yan S, Herbert LM, Sheak JR, Gonzalez Bosc LV, Walker BR, Kanagy NL, Jernigan NL, Resta TC. Intermittent hypoxia augments pulmonary vasoconstrictor reactivity through PKCb/mitochondrial oxidant signaling. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 62(6):732-746, 2020.
Reduced membrane cholesterol following chronic hypoxia impairs pulmonary endothelial Ca2+ entry: implications for endothelial dysfunction in pulmonary hypertension
Zhang B, Naik JS, Jernigan NL, Walker BR, Resta TC. Reduced membrane cholesterol limits pulmonary endothelial Ca2+ entry following chronic hypoxia. Am J Physiol 312(6):H1176-H1184, 2017.
Zhang B, Naik JS, Jernigan NL, Walker BR, Resta TC. Reduced membrane cholesterol following chronic hypoxia limits Orai1-mediated pulmonary endothelial Ca2+ entry. Am J Physiol. 314(2):H350-H369, 2018.