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College of Pharmacy

College of Pharmacy

Faculty Profile

Bradley McConnellBradley McConnell

Professor of Pharmacology
Assistant Chair
Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Office: 
University of Houston College of Pharmacy
Health 2, Room 5024
4349 Martin Luther King Boulevard
Houston, TX 77204-5037

Contact: bkmcconn@central.uh.edu - 713-743-1218

Research:

Research interests are focused on understanding the biology, physiology, and pharmacology of cardiac contractility and function in both normal and diseased hearts. Specifically, our translational research projects include (1) investigating guided differentiation of reprogrammed progenitor cells to form mature cardiac conduction cells for cardiac repair, (2) defining β-adrenergic receptor-mediated "biased" signaling, and (3) characterizing A-kinase Anchoring Protein (AKAP) "signalosomes" in β-adrenergic receptor signaling. By addressing clinically significant basic science questions, our overall objective in the McConnell Laboratory is to better understand cardiac signaling mechanisms and towards developing therapeutics for heart repair.

  • B.S. (Biology); Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
  • Ph.D. (Physiology and Biophysics); Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
  • Postdoctoral Fellow (Genetics); Harvard Medical School/Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA

Google Scholar Profile
  • Xiao S*, Liang R*, Lucero E*, McConnell BK, Chen Z, Chang J, Navran S, Schwartz RJ, Iyer D. STEMIN and YAP5SA synthetic modified mRNAs regenerate and repair infarcted mouse hearts. J Cardiovasc Aging. 2022 Jul;2(3):31. doi: 10.20517/jca.2022.20. Epub 2022 Jun 15. PMID: 35891703; PMCID: PMC9311335. *Equally Contributing First Authors
  • Arao Y, Gruzdev A, Scott GJ, Ray MK, Donoghue LJ, Neufeld TI, Lierz SL, Stefkovich ML, Mathura E, Jefferson T, Foley JF, Mahler TB, Asghari A, Le C, McConnell BK, Stephen R, Berridge BR, Hamilton KJ, Hewitt SC, Umetani M, Korach KS. A Novel Mouse Model to Analyze Non-Genomic ERα Physiological Actions. Journal of the Endocrine Society. Volume 6, Issue 9, September 2022, bvac109, https://doi.org/10.1210/jendso/bvac109.
  • Prodan N, Ershad F, Reyes-Alcaraz A, Li L, Mistretta B, Gonzalez L, Rao Z, Yu C, Gunaratne PH, Li N, Schwartz RJ, McConnell BK. Direct reprogramming of cardiomyocytes into cardiac Purkinje-like cells. iScience. 2022 Oct 20;25(11):105402. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105402. PMID: 36388958; PMCID: PMC9646947.
  • Qasim H, McConnell BK. AKAP12 Signaling Complex: Impacts of Compartmentalizing cAMP-Dependent Signaling Pathways in the Heart and Various Signaling Systems. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Jul 7;9(13):e016615. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.120.016615. Epub 2020 Jun 23; PMID: 32573313.
  • Roberston MJ, Raghunathan S, Potaman VN, Zhang F, Stewart MD, McConnell BK*, Schwartz RJ*. CRISPR-Cas9-induced IGF1 gene activation as a tool for enhancing muscle differentiation via multiple isoform expression. FASEB J. 2020 Jan;34(1):555-570. doi: 10.1096/fj.201901107RR. Epub 2019 Nov 25. PMID: 31914652; PMCID: PMC6956731.
  • Raghunathan S, Islas JF, Mistretta B, Iyer D, Shi L, Gunaratne PH, Ko G, Schwartz RJ, McConnell BK. Conversion of human cardiac progenitor cells into cardiac pacemaker-like cells. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2020 Jan;138:12-22. doi: 10.1016/j.yjmcc.2019.09.015. Epub 2019 Oct 31. PMID: 31678351; PMCID: PMC7035977.
  • Fan Q, Yin X, Rababa'h A, Diaz Diaz A, Wijaya CS, Singh S, Suryavanshi SV, Vo HH, Saeed M, Zhang Y, McConnell BK. Absence of gravin-mediated signaling inhibits development of high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2019 Oct 1;317(4):H793-H810. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00215.2019. Epub 2019 Aug 23. PMID: 31441691; PMCID: PMC6843010.
  • Raghunathan S, Reynolds CL, Schwartz RJ, Stewart MD, McConnell BK. C.B-17 SCID mice develop epicardial calcinosis with unaltered cardiac function. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2019 Feb;33(1):25-30. doi: 10.1111/fcp.12398. Epub 2018 Aug 5. PMID: 29959870; PMCID: PMC6311438.
  • Suryavanshi SV, Jadhav SM, Anderson KL, Katsonis P, Lichtarge O, McConnell BK. Human muscle-specific A-kinase anchoring protein polymorphisms modulate the susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases by altering cAMP/PKA signaling. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2018 Jul 1;315(1):H109-H121. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00034.2018. Epub 2018 Mar 30. PMID: 29600899; PMCID: PMC6087776.
  • Suryavanshi SV, Jadhav SM, McConnell BK. Polymorphisms/Mutations in A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins (AKAPs): Role in the Cardiovascular System. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2018 Jan 25;5(1). doi: 10.3390/jcdd5010007. Review. PMID: 29370121; PMCID: PMC5872355.
  • Li Z, Singh S, Suryavanshi SV, Ding W, Shen X, Wijaya CS, Gao WD, McConnell BK. Force development and intracellular Ca2+ in intact cardiac muscles from gravin mutant mice. Eur J Pharmacol. 2017 Jul 15;807:117-126. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2017.04.020. Epub 2017 Apr 17. PMID: 28428008; PMCID: PMC5490489.
  • Liu Y, Chen L, Diaz AD, Benham A, Xu X, Wijaya CS, Fa'ak F, Luo W, Soibam B, Azares A, Yu W, Lyu Q, Stewart MD, Gunaratne P, Cooney A, McConnell BK*, Schwartz RJ*. Mesp1 Marked Cardiac Progenitor Cells Repair Infarcted Mouse Hearts. Sci Rep. 2016 Aug 19;6:31457. doi: 10.1038/srep31457. PMID: 27538477; PMCID: PMC4990963.
  • Valenzuela N, Fan Q, Fa'ak F, Soibam B, Nagandla H, Liu Y, Schwartz RJ, McConnell BK, Stewart MD. Cardiomyocyte-specific conditional knockout of the histone chaperone HIRA in mice results in hypertrophy, sarcolemmal damage and focal replacement fibrosis. Dis Model Mech. 2016 Mar;9(3):335-45. doi: 10.1242/dmm.022889. PMID: 26935106; PMCID: PMC4833330.
  • McConnell BK, Singh S, Fan Q, Hernandez A, Portillo JP, Reiser PJ, Tikunova SB. Knock-in mice harboring a Ca(2+) desensitizing mutation in cardiac troponin C develop early onset dilated cardiomyopathy. Front Physiol. 2015;6:242. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2015.00242. eCollection 2015. PMID: 26379556; PMCID: PMC4550777.
  • Jiang J, Burgon PG, Wakimoto H, Onoue K, Gorham JM, O'Meara CC, Fomovsky G, McConnell BK, Lee RT, Seidman JG, Seidman CE. Cardiac myosin binding protein C regulates postnatal myocyte cytokinesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jul 21;112(29):9046-51. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1511004112. Epub 2015 Jul 7. PMID: 26153423; PMCID: PMC4517252.
  • Rababa'h A, Singh S, Suryavanshi SV, Altarabsheh SE, Deo SV, McConnell BK. Compartmentalization role of A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) in mediating protein kinase A (PKA) signaling and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Int J Mol Sci. 2014 Dec 24;16(1):218-29. doi: 10.3390/ijms16010218. Review. PMID: 25547489; PMCID: PMC4307244.
  • Guillory AN, Yin X, Wijaya CS, Diaz Diaz AC, Rababa'h A, Singh S, Atrooz F, Sadayappan S, McConnell BK. Enhanced cardiac function in Gravin mutant mice involves alterations in the β-adrenergic receptor signaling cascade. PLoS One. 2013 Sep 18;8(9):e74784. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074784. eCollection 2013. PMID: 24058627
  • Rababa'h A, Craft JW Jr, Wijaya CS, Atrooz F, Fan Q, Singh S, Guillory AN, Katsonis P, Lichtarge O, McConnell BK. Protein kinase A and phosphodiesterase-4D3 binding to coding polymorphisms of cardiac muscle anchoring protein (mAKAP). J Mol Biol. 2013 Sep 23;425(18):3277-88. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2013.06.014. Epub 2013 Jun 25. PMID: 23806656; PMCID: PMC3808176.
  • McConnell BK, Popovic Z, Mal N, Lee K, Bautista J, Forudi F, Schwartzman R, Jin JP, Penn M, Bond M. Disruption of protein kinase A interaction with A-kinase-anchoring proteins in the heart in vivo: effects on cardiac contractility, protein kinase A phosphorylation, and troponin I proteolysis. J Biol Chem. 2009 Jan 16;284(3):1583-92. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M806321200. Epub 2008 Oct 21. PMID: 18945669; PMCID: PMC2615525.

Awards & Honors

  • 2021-present, Program Director, American Heart Association, University of Houston Houston Experience for Advancing Research and Training (UH-HEART): The UH-HEART program provides transdisciplinary summer research experiences and translatable skills that prepare participants for future careers in cardiovascular-related research
  • 2018, Group Teaching Excellence Award, University of Houston: In recognition of outstanding achievement by a teaching group at the University of Houston
  • 2016, Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award, University of Houston; In recognition of outstanding undergraduate research mentorship at the University of Houston
  • 2014-present, Fellow of the American Physiological Society, Cardiovascular Sciences (FCVS): In recognition of scientific & professional accomplishments as well as leadership and service of one of the world's most eminent organizations of cardiovascular research scientists.
  • 2011-present, Fellow of the American Heart Association, Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (FAHA); In recognition of scientific and professional accomplishments, volunteer leadership, and service of one of the world's most eminent organizations of cardiovascular and stroke professionals.

National Service

  • 2018-current Chair, Programming Committee; Cardiovascular Pharmacology (CVP) Division; American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).
  • 2018-current, Member, National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD); A highly acclaimed 14-week boot camp "Faculty Success Program" that combines empirically tested methods to improve research productivity through intense accountability, coaching, and peer support to support academicians thrive in their careers and enhance work-life balance.
  • 2015-current, Programming Committee, Translational Physiology Interest Group (TPIG), American Physiology Society (APS)
  • 2015, Member, Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy (CCLA), University of Houston: A leadership and professional development program providing a collection of activities and opportunities that follows the principles of institutional excellence, student access, diversity, research, external partnerships, faculty recruitment and retention, PK-16 partnership, accountability, and administration efficiency
  • 2009-current, Study Section, American Heart Association – Multiple Award Programs: Transformational Project Award (TPA), Study Section Chair and Peer Review Committee; Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Program, Study Section and Peer Review Committee; and various other National and Southwestern Affiliate Award Programs, Study Section and Peer Review Committee

Appointments

  • 2021-present, Professor (Joint Faculty), Department of Biology and Biochemistry, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Houston, Houston, TX
  • 2018-current, Faculty, Drug Discovery Institute (DDI); University of Houston, Houston, TX
  • 2013-current, Faculty, Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  • 2010-current, Keck Faculty, Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC), Bioscience collaboration of the Texas Medical Center's (TMC) scientific community, including Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at Houston, UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and UT Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB)
  • 2008-current, Faculty, Heart and Kidney Institute (HKI), University of Houston, Houston, TX