Faculty Name: Nektarios Barabutis, M.Sc., Ph.D

Title: Assistant Professor of Pharmacology

Current research interest: My lab is interested on the development of new therapeutic approaches against lethal respiratory disorders, such as the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The incidence of ARDS in the United States is in the range of 64-80 cases/100,000 people per year. In severe cases, the mortality rate is as high as 45%. Thus, the development of novel therapeutic avenues towards this disorder is of the utmost need. We aims to delineate the molecular mechanisms which protect, and restore, the function of the lungs when subjected to severe inflammation. The new knowledge furthers our understanding in the pathophysiology of ARDS, and exerts the potential to enhance the armamentarium of therapies against the destructed lungs of those patients in need.

What is a recent project, publication, or feature you are proud of? I am proud of all my research works (42 manuscripts in the scientific press). During my tenure in the College of Pharmacy (10/2017-Present), we have published 17 peer-reviewed publications. We succeeded on attracting funds from different sources, including the highly competitive 3-year project from the Louisiana Board of Regents (Research Competitive Subprogram). However, we would not have experienced those positive outcomes without the effortless endeavors of my good students, and collaborators. The School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences (BPTS), under the leadership of Dr. Briski, is consistently providing us with the most fertile grounds for our research to grow. Indeed, It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to be a member of the BPTS family. Unequivocally, it is a group consisted of the most accomplished and efficient professionals. It is a promise that my group will keep to relentlessly pursuing the discovery of new knowledge, and to try to support meritorious research in the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Is there any published information regarding your project, publication, or feature?  It was my good fortune to have been trained in the laboratories of Dr. Kiaris (University of South Carolina, SC), Dr. AV Schally (Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami, FL) and Dr. Catravas (Old Dominion University, VA). I am also delighted to be daily advised by my BPTS mentors, Drs. J. Seetharama and K. Jackson. As an educator and a researcher, I feel to state that it would my great hope that my own students would appreciate me as much as I appreciate my teachers. Without them, as well as without my competitors, the information provided below would not exist.

2009: The discovery of the anti-oxidant activities of growth hormone releasing hormone antagonists by Dr. Barabutis and Dr. Schally (Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1977) provided alternative approaches in the management of neurodegenerative disorders (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease).

2015: Due to the discovery of the protective role of P53 in the lungs, Dr Barabutis receives the "Herman Rahn Award for Excellence in Pulmonary Research" by the American Physiological Society.

2020: The monogram-hypothesis by N. Barabutis in IUBMB Life entitled ”Regulation of lung endothelial permeability by NEK kinases” was selected by the Editors of this journal to be featured at the front of the Issue. IUBMB Life is the flagship journal of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Present: List of publications in PubMed (2007-Present):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=barabutis