Available to mentor
Dr. Beard is a Professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and holds affiliate appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Emergency Medicine. His laboratory is focused on systems engineering approaches to understanding the biophysical and biochemical operation of physiological systems.
Dr. Beard earned an MS in Applied Mathematics and PhD in Bioengineering in 1997 under the supervision of Dr. James Bassingthwaighte at the University of Washington. After completing his PhD he conducted postdoctoral research at the Courant Institute of New York University, and as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. Before joining the University of Michigan, he was Professor of Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.. Research in the Beard laboratory uses a combination of experimental and systems modeling approaches to understanding the operation of physiological systems in health and disease.
-
Center MemberCenter for Integrative Research in Critical Care
-
Center MemberSamuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center
Dr. Beard’s research interests center on:
(1) Cardiac energy metabolism. One of the Beard lab’s significant contributions is the discovery of the primary pathway regulating mitochondrial ATP synthesis in the heart in vivo. In demonstrating that inorganic phosphate acts as the key feedback signal controlling the rate of oxidative phosphorylation in the heart, the group has disproved the entrenched theory that oxidative phosphorylation and cellular energetic state in the heart are maintained in the absence of a feedback mechanism. Current work focuses on the question of how the control of energy metabolism breaks down in heart failure, how loss of specific cytoplasmic pools in heart failure disrupts the energetic state, and if/how this metabolic failure determines the loss of mechanical function in heart failure.
(2) Oxidative metabolism and energetics in skeletal muscle. We investigating how oxidative ATP synthesis, coupled to physiological glucose disposal, is regulated in skeletal muscle and how this system becomes dysfunctional in type II diabetes.
(3) Regulation of coronary blood flow. Because the left ventricle extracts approximately 90% of oxygen from the coronary arterial blood supply, changes in myocardial work rate must be matched in lockstep with changes in myocardial perfusion. Because vascular signaling mechanisms integrate a number of parallel open-loop and feedback signals to determine vessel tone, and because sympathetic innervation causes different responses in vessels in different locations in the coronary network, blood flow emerges as a consequence of phenomena that occur on multiple time and space scales.
-
Colebank MJ, Oomen PA, Witzenburg CM, Grosberg A, Beard DA, Husmeier D, Olufsen MS, Chesler NC. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2024 Aug 1; 327 (2): H473 - H503.Journal ArticleGuidelines for mechanistic modeling and analysis in cardiovascular research.
DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00766.2023 PMID: 38904851 -
Sturgess VE, Tune JD, Figueroa CA, Carlson BE, Beard DA. J Mol Cell Cardiol, 2024 Jul; 192: 94 - 108.Journal ArticleIntegrated modeling and simulation of recruitment of myocardial perfusion and oxygen delivery in exercise.
DOI:10.1016/j.yjmcc.2024.05.006 PMID: 38754551 -
Kuppa A, Alzamrooni A, Lopez R, Suhan T, Chaudhary R, Collins N, Van den Bergh F, Abouleisa R, Wang H, Mohamed T, Satin J, Lyssiotis C, Beard DA, Abdel-Latif A. bioRxiv, 2024 May 26;Journal ArticleInherent Metabolic Adaptations in Adult Spiny Mouse ( Acomys ) Cardiomyocytes Facilitate Enhanced Cardiac Recovery Following Myocardial Infarction.
DOI:10.1101/2024.05.22.595229 PMID: 38826249 -
Tune JD, Warne CM, Essajee SI, Tucker SM, Figueroa CA, Dick GM, Beard DA. J Mol Cell Cardiol, 2024 May; 190: 82 - 91.Journal ArticleUnraveling the Gordian knot of coronary pressure-flow autoregulation.
DOI:10.1016/j.yjmcc.2024.04.008 PMID: 38608928 -
Lopez-Schenk R, Collins NL, Schenk NA, Beard DA. Compr Physiol, 2023 Dec 29; 14: 5345 - 5369.ChapterIntegrated Functions of Cardiac Energetics, Mechanics, and Purine Nucleotide Metabolism.
DOI:10.1002/cphy.c230011 PMID: 38158366 -
Choi HS, Bhat A, Howington MB, Schaller ML, Cox RL, Huang S, Beydoun S, Miller HA, Tuckowski AM, Mecano J, Dean ES, Jensen L, Beard DA, Evans CR, Leiser SF. Nat Commun, 2023 Feb 2; 14 (1): 562Journal ArticleFMO rewires metabolism to promote longevity through tryptophan and one carbon metabolism in C. elegans.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-36181-0 PMID: 36732543 -
Warne CM, Essajee SI, Tucker SM, Figueroa CA, Beard DA, Dick GM, Tune JD. Basic Res Cardiol, 2023 Mar 29; 118 (1): 12Journal ArticleOxygen-sensing pathways below autoregulatory threshold act to sustain myocardial oxygen delivery during reductions in perfusion pressure.
DOI:10.1007/s00395-023-00985-4 PMID: 36988670 -
Fleischman JY, Van den Bergh F, Collins NL, Bowers M, Beard DA, Burant CF. Mol Metab, 2023 Oct; 76: 101793Journal ArticleHigher mitochondrial oxidative capacity is the primary molecular differentiator in muscle of rats with high and low intrinsic cardiorespiratory fitness.
DOI:10.1016/j.molmet.2023.101793 PMID: 37625738