Overview

The focus of Dr. Charkoudian's research is on sympathetic neural control of the circulation in humans, as related to the regulation of blood pressure and body temperature in healthy humans as well as in obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. She is interested in interactions between humoral control of blood volume (eg, angiotensin II) and sympathetic neural control of arterial pressure, as evaluated using direct microneurographic measurements of sympathetic neural activity. Another focus of the laboratory is the evaluation of mechanisms of thermoregulatory control of the skin circulation in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Ongoing studies include evaluations of the role of endogenous angiotensin in altering sympathetic nerve activity, the roles of systemic inflammation in altering control of sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure, and the importance of inter-individual variability in sympathetic neural and hemodynamic variables in the control of blood pressure in humans. Dr. Charkoudian is Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Physiology & Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. She also has a joint academic appointment in the Department of Anesthesiology, and her research involves collaborations with investigators in the Departments of Anesthesiology, Neurology and Medicine (Division of Endocrinology).