Professor Roland Stocker
K25 - Medical Foundation Building
The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia |
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Roland Stocker received his training as a biochemist at the ETH Zürich (Switzerland), ANU (Canberra, Australia) and the University of California (Berkeley, USA). Following an appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Berne (Switzerland), Roland moved permanently to Australia in 1988 where he worked as Group Leader at the Heart Research Institute for 13 years, as a Professor at the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales for 5 years, before taking up a Professorial Chair at the University of Sydney in late 2006.
Since moving to Australia in 1988, the work of Roland’s laboratory has received continuous funding from competitive national (NHMRC, ARC, NHF) and international agencies (NIH). For the last 12 years, he also received commercial research support, including major pharmaceutical companies. Roland has received several awards, including the inaugural Simon Wolff Contrarian Award for work on vitamin E, and several from the NHF for highest ranked grant applications. Highlights of the more than 80 invitations to present at international meetings include four presentations at Gordon Research Conferences, two at each FASEB Conferences, the Biennial Meetings of the International Society for Free Radical Research (ISFRR) and the International Symposia of Atherosclerosis, and presentations at a Harden Conference and the International Symposium on Organic Free Radicals. The many invitations to write reviews on the role of antioxidants and oxidants in atherosclerosis include one for the prestigious journal Physiol Rev.
Roland is recognized internationally as an expert in redox biology, particularly for his research on antioxidants, and mechanisms and prevention of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Roland’s work on bilirubin as a natural antioxidant is now referred to in biochemistry textbooks and it has contributed to a change in the threshold at which hyperbilirubinemia is treated in clinics. His work on vitamin E has changed the handling of parenteral nutrition in NICUs in New Zealand/Australia, and it provides a scientific rationale for the overall lack of benefit of vitamin E supplements on cardiovascular disease outcome.
Roland has been an NH&MRC Research Fellow since 1994, and a Senior Principal Research Fellow since 2001. He has been/is editorial board member of all major journals publishing in the area of redox biology (Archiv Biophys Biochem, Chem Res Toxicol, Free Radic Biol Med, Free Radic Res and Redox Report) and of J Lipid Res. He regularly reviews for international journals (average: 1 manuscript/week), national and international granting agencies and has been/is a member of RGICs/GRPs of NHMRC and NHF. In 2003, RS chaired NHMRC GRP7b in Cardiovascular/Renal/Sports Medicine.
Roland is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University, a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore, Past-President of SFRR Australasia, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association, and was a Committee member of the International HDL Research Award Program. He has been/is consultant for international pharmaceutical companies, has organized several national and international meetings, and initiated and was the Chairman of the first joint meeting of SFRR Australasia and Japan.
Most recently, Roland has been awarded a Professorial Research Fellowship and a Medical Foundation Fellowship from the University of Sydney. In 2007, he was the Paul Nestel Lecturer at the annual scientific meeting of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society; he successfully licensed IP related to a novel class of compounds with anti-atherosclerotic properties to a US-based pharmaceutical company for development; and he was elected Deputy Chairman of the International CoQ10 Association, and Chairman of the 6th International CoQ10 Conference (2009), the 5th Biennial Meeting of SFRR (Australasia and Japan, 2009), and the 8th International Congress on Heme Oxygenases (2013).
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Principal Investigator since 1988
Publications: 215 since 1982, of which 165 are peer-reviewed, original research papers; 23 are invited reviews and articles, and 27 are book chapters.
Citations: 12,400 including 4 Citation Classics (>500 citations); 28 cited more than 100 times; 57 more than 50 times, with an average of 57 citations per article.
Current h-Index: 54
Patents: 7
Grants: 49 Competitive (~$12M) and 15 Commercial ($3M)
Plenary Talks and Personal Invitations at International Meetings: 89 (total), plus 22 invited lectures at National Meetings over the last 10 years.
Since moving to Australia in 1988, the work of Roland’s laboratory has received continuous funding from competitive national (NHMRC, ARC, NHF) and international agencies (NIH). For the last 12 years, he also received commercial research support, including major pharmaceutical companies. Roland has received several awards, including the inaugural Simon Wolff Contrarian Award for work on vitamin E, and several from the NHF for highest ranked grant applications. Highlights of the more than 80 invitations to present at international meetings include four presentations at Gordon Research Conferences, two at each FASEB Conferences, the Biennial Meetings of the International Society for Free Radical Research (ISFRR) and the International Symposia of Atherosclerosis, and presentations at a Harden Conference and the International Symposium on Organic Free Radicals. The many invitations to write reviews on the role of antioxidants and oxidants in atherosclerosis include one for the prestigious journal Physiol Rev.
Roland is recognized internationally as an expert in redox biology, particularly for his research on antioxidants, and mechanisms and prevention of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Roland’s work on bilirubin as a natural antioxidant is now referred to in biochemistry textbooks and it has contributed to a change in the threshold at which hyperbilirubinemia is treated in clinics. His work on vitamin E has changed the handling of parenteral nutrition in NICUs in New Zealand/Australia, and it provides a scientific rationale for the overall lack of benefit of vitamin E supplements on cardiovascular disease outcome.
Roland has been an NH&MRC Research Fellow since 1994, and a Senior Principal Research Fellow since 2001. He has been/is editorial board member of all major journals publishing in the area of redox biology (Archiv Biophys Biochem, Chem Res Toxicol, Free Radic Biol Med, Free Radic Res and Redox Report) and of J Lipid Res. He regularly reviews for international journals (average: 1 manuscript/week), national and international granting agencies and has been/is a member of RGICs/GRPs of NHMRC and NHF. In 2003, RS chaired NHMRC GRP7b in Cardiovascular/Renal/Sports Medicine.
Roland is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University, a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore, Past-President of SFRR Australasia, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association, and was a Committee member of the International HDL Research Award Program. He has been/is consultant for international pharmaceutical companies, has organized several national and international meetings, and initiated and was the Chairman of the first joint meeting of SFRR Australasia and Japan.
Most recently, Roland has been awarded a Professorial Research Fellowship and a Medical Foundation Fellowship from the University of Sydney. In 2007, he was the Paul Nestel Lecturer at the annual scientific meeting of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society; he successfully licensed IP related to a novel class of compounds with anti-atherosclerotic properties to a US-based pharmaceutical company for development; and he was elected Deputy Chairman of the International CoQ10 Association, and Chairman of the 6th International CoQ10 Conference (2009), the 5th Biennial Meeting of SFRR (Australasia and Japan, 2009), and the 8th International Congress on Heme Oxygenases (2013).
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Principal Investigator since 1988
Publications: 215 since 1982, of which 165 are peer-reviewed, original research papers; 23 are invited reviews and articles, and 27 are book chapters.
Citations: 12,400 including 4 Citation Classics (>500 citations); 28 cited more than 100 times; 57 more than 50 times, with an average of 57 citations per article.
Current h-Index: 54
Patents: 7
Grants: 49 Competitive (~$12M) and 15 Commercial ($3M)
Plenary Talks and Personal Invitations at International Meetings: 89 (total), plus 22 invited lectures at National Meetings over the last 10 years.
Our research focuses on the hardening of blood vessels (a process also called atherosclerosis) that is the single major cause of heart attacks and stroke, and hence death, in Australia. We study the contribution of two processes (oxidation and inflammation) to atherosclerosis, and how the disease can be inhibited. We have identified a protein, the up-regulation of which affords anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory protection that translates into inhibition of disease in several animal models. We also have identified a novel class of molecules that regulate the activity of this protective protein. We are now in the exciting phase of developing these molecules, in collaboration with a commercial partner, as potential novel drugs against heart disease. If successful, our research could have a major impact on health in Australia.
Current national competitive grants
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2009 |
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Cellular Responses to Adversity: Oxidative Stress and Protection Against Oxidative Damage |
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| ARC Discovery Project | $304,000 over 3 years |
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Regulation of vascular tone by kynurenine |
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| NHMRC Project Grants | $639,000 over 3 years |
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2007 |
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Vascular Biology |
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| NHMRC Research Grant | $2,337,940 over 5 years |
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Senior Principal Research Fellow |
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| NHMRC Fellowship | $796,250 over 4 years |
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2006 |
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Regulation of vascular tone by indoleamine 2 3-dioxygenase |
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| NHMRC Project Grant | $447,750 over 5 years |
2008
- Patel, S, Puranik, R, Nakhla, S, Lundman, P, Stocker, R, Wang, X, Lambert, G, Rye, K, Barter, P, Nicholls, S, Celermajer, D. Acute hypertriglyceridaemia in humans increases the triglyceride content and decreases the anti-inflammatory capacity of high density lipoproteins. Atherosclerosis. 2008; :
- Maghzal, G, Thomas, S, Hunt, N, Stocker, R. Cytochrome b5, not superoxide anion radical, is a major reductant of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in human cells. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2008; 283:12014-12025
- Wang, X, Stocker, R. Detection of specifically oxidized apolipoproteins in oxidized HDL. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 2008; 477:49-63
2007
- Li, C, Hossieny, P, Wu, B, Qawasmeh, A, Beck, K, Stocker, R. Pharmacologic Induction of Heme Oxygenase-1. Antioxidants & redox signaling. 2007; 9:2227-39
- Maghzal, G, Stocker, R. Improved analysis of hydroethidine and 2-hydroxyethidium by HPLC and electrochemical detection. Free radical biology & medicine. 2007. p. 1095-1096.
- Thomas, S, Terentis, A, Cai, H, Takikawa, O, Levina, A, Lay, P, Freewan, M, Stocker, R. Post-translational regulation of human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity by nitric oxide. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2007; 282:23778-87
- Ball, H, Sanchez-Perez, A, Weiser, S, Austin, C, Astelbauer, F, Miu, J, McQuillan, J, Stocker, R, Jermiin, L, Hunt, N. Characterization of an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-like protein found in humans and mice. Gene. 2007; 396:203-213
- Hunt, N, Stocker, R. Heme moves to center stage in cerebral malaria. Nature medicine. 2007; 13:667-669
- Wu, B, Di Girolamo, N, Beck, K, Hanratty, C, Choy, K, Hou, J, Ward, M, Stocker, R. Probucol [4,4'-[(1-methylethylidene)bis(thio)]bis-[2,6-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol]] inhibits compensatory remodeling and promotes lumen loss associated with atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. 2007; 321:477-84
- Witting, P, Rayner, B, Wu, B, Ellis, N, Stocker, R. Hydrogen peroxide promotes endothelial dysfunction by stimulating multiple sources of superoxide anion radical production and decreasing nitric oxide bioavailability. Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology. 2007; 20:255-268
- Stocker, R. Vitamin E. In: Dietary Supplements and Health, No. 282. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2007. p. 77-92.
2006
- Stocker, R, Perrella, M. Heme oxygenase-1: a novel drug target for atherosclerotic diseases?. Circulation. 2006; 114:2178-89
- Witting, P, Harris, H, Rayner, B, Aitken, J, Dillon, C, Stocker, R, Lai, B, Cai, Z, Lay, P. The Endothelium-Derived Hyperpolarizing Factor, H(2)O(2), Promotes Metal-Ion Efflux in Aortic Endothelial Cells: Elemental Mapping by a Hard X-ray Microprobe. Biochemistry. 2006; 45:12500-12509
- Suarna, C, Wu, B, Choy, K, Mori, T, Croft, K, Cynshi, O, Stocker, R. Protective effect of vitamin E supplements on experimental atherosclerosis is modest and depends on preexisting vitamin E deficiency. Free radical biology & medicine. 2006; 41:722-30
- Stocker, R, Pollicino, C, Gay, C, Nestel, P, Colquhoun, D, Whiting, M, Tonkin, A, Sullivan, D, Simes, J. Neither plasma coenzyme Q(10) concentration, nor its decline during pravastatin therapy, is linked to recurrent cardiovascular disease events: A prospective case-control study from the LIPID study. Atherosclerosis. 2006; 187:198-204
- Lau, A, Chaufour, X, McLachlan, C, Leichtweis, S, Celermajer, D, Sullivan, C, Stocker, R. Intimal thickening after arterial balloon injury is increased by intermittent repetitive hypoxia, but intermittent repetitive hyperoxia is not protective. Atherosclerosis. 2006; 185:254-263
2004
- Rayner, B, Stocker, R, Lay, P, Witting, P. Regio- and stereo-chemical oxidation of linoleic acid by human myoglobin and hydrogen peroxide: Tyr(103) affects rate and product distribution. The Biochemical journal. 2004; 381:365-72
- Jessup, W, Kritharides, L, Stocker, R. Lipid oxidation in atherogenesis: an overview. Biochemical Society transactions. 2004; 32:134-8
- Rayner, B, Wu, B, Raftery, M, Stocker, R, Witting, P. Regulation of vascular tone by S-nitroso-myoglobin. Redox report : communications in free radical research. 2004; 9:382-6
2003
- Medana, I, Day, N, Salahifar-Sabet, H, Stocker, R, Smythe, G, Bwanaisa, L, Njobvu, A, Kayira, K, Turner, G, Taylor, T, Hunt, N. Metabolites of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism in the cerebrospinal fluid of Malawian children with malaria. The Journal of infectious diseases. 2003; 188:844-9
- Upston, J, Kritharides, L, Stocker, R. The role of vitamin E in atherosclerosis. Progress in lipid research. 2003; 42:405-22
- Choy, K, Deng, Y, Hou, J, Wu, B, Lau, A, Witting, P, Stocker, R. Coenzyme Q(10) supplementation inhibits aortic lipid oxidation but fails to attenuate intimal thickening in balloon-injured New Zealand white rabbits. Free radical biology & medicine. 2003; 35:300-9
- Lau, A, Leichtweis, S, Hume, P, Mashima, R, Hou, J, Chaufour, X, Wilkinson, B, Hunt, N, Celermajer, D, Stocker, R. Probucol promotes functional reendothelialization in balloon-injured rabbit aortas. Circulation. 2003; 107:2031-6
- Pankhurst, G, Wang, X, Wilcken, D, Baernthaler, G, Panzenböck, U, Raftery, M, Stocker, R. Characterization of specifically oxidized apolipoproteins in mildly oxidized high density lipoprotein. Journal of lipid research. 2003; 44:349-55
- Kritharides, L, Stocker, R. The use of antioxidant supplements in coronary heart disease. Atherosclerosis. 2003; 164:211-219
2002
- Kritharides, L, Stocker, R. The use of antioxidant supplements in coronary heart disease. Atherosclerosis. 2002; 164:211-9
- Terentis, A, Thomas, S, Takikawa, O, Littlejohn, T, Truscott, R, Armstrong, R, Yeh, S, Stocker, R. The heme environment of recombinant human indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. Structural properties and substrate-ligand interactions. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2002; 277:15788-94
- Upston, J, Terentis, A, Morris, K, Keaney Jr, J, Stocker, R. Oxidized lipid accumulates in the presence of alpha-tocopherol in atherosclerosis. The Biochemical journal. 2002; 363:753-60
- Mashima, R, Tilley, L, Siomos, M, Papalexis, V, Raftery, M, Stocker, R. Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein-2 (PfHRP2) modulates the redox activity of ferri-protoporphyrin IX (FePPIX): peroxidase-like activity of the PfHRP2-FePPIX complex. The Journal of biological chemistry. 2002; 277:14514-20
- Medana, I, Hien, T, Day, N, Phu, N, Mai, N, Chu'ong, L, Chau, T, Taylor, A, Salahifar, H, Stocker, R, Smythe, G, Turner, G, Farrar, J, White, N, Hunt, N. The clinical significance of cerebrospinal fluid levels of kynurenine pathway metabolites and lactate in severe malaria. The Journal of infectious diseases. 2002; 185:650-6
- Terentis, A, Thomas, S, Burr, J, Liebler, D, Stocker, R. Vitamin E oxidation in human atherosclerotic lesions. Circulation research. 2002; 90:333-9
- Upston, J, Niu, X, Brown, A, Mashima, R, Wang, H, Senthilmohan, R, Kettle, A, Dean, R, Stocker, R. Disease stage-dependent accumulation of lipid and protein oxidation products in human atherosclerosis. The American journal of pathology. 2002; 160:701-710
2001
- Upston, J, Witting, P, Brown, A, Stocker, R, Keaney, J. Effect of vitamin E on aortic lipid oxidation and intimal proliferation after arterial injury in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Free radical biology & medicine. 2001; 31:1245-53
- Hazell, L, Baernthaler, G, Stocker, R. Correlation between intima-to-media ratio, apolipoprotein B-100, myeloperoxidase, and hypochlorite-oxidized proteins in human atherosclerosis. Free radical biology & medicine. 2001; 31:1254-62
- Sanni, L, Rae, C, Maitland, A, Stocker, R, Hunt, N. Is ischemia involved in the pathogenesis of murine cerebral malaria?. The American journal of pathology. 2001; 159:1105-12
- Witting, P, Mauk, A, Douglas, D, Stocker, R. Reaction of human myoglobin and peroxynitrite: characterizing biomarkers for myoglobin-derived oxidative stress. Biochemical and biophysical research communications. 2001; 286:352-6
- Mashima, R, Witting, P, Stocker, R. Oxidants and antioxidants in atherosclerosis. Current opinion in lipidology. 2001; 12:411-8
- Heydeck, D, Upston, J, Viita, H, Ylä-Herttuala, S, Stocker, R. Oxidation of LDL by rabbit and human 15-lipoxygenase: prevalence of nonenzymatic reactions. Journal of lipid research. 2001; 42:1082-8
- Thomas, S, Salahifar, H, Mashima, R, Hunt, N, Richardson, D, Stocker, R. Antioxidants inhibit indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in IFN-gamma-activated human macrophages: posttranslational regulation by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950). 2001; 166:6332-40
- Thomas, S, Leichtweis, S, Pettersson, K, Croft, K, Mori, T, Brown, A, Stocker, R. Dietary cosupplementation with vitamin E and coenzyme Q(10) inhibits atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E gene knockout mice. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. 2001; 21:585-93
- Stojanov, T, Chami, O, Ishi, S, Shimuzu, T, Li, A, O'Neill, C, Wu, C, Stocker, R. Evidence of the Autocrine induction of capacitation of mammalian spermatozoa. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001; 19 (suppl 4):S21-S28
2000
- Raitakari, O, McCredie, R, Witting, P, Griffiths, K, Letters, J, Sullivan, D, Stocker, R, Celermajer, D. Coenzyme Q improves LDL resistance to ex vivo oxidation but does not enhance endothelial function in hypercholesterolemic young adults. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 2000; 28:1100-1105
- Raitakari, O, Adams, M, McCredie, R, Griffiths, K, Stocker, R, Celermajer, D. Oral vitamin C and endothelial function in smokers: short-term improvement, but no sustained beneficial effect. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2000; 35:1616-1621
- Panzenbock, U, Kritharides, L, Raftery, M, Rye, K, Stocker, R. Oxidation of methionine residues to methionine sulfoxides does not decrease potential antiatherogenic properties of apolipoprotein A-I. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2000; 275:19536-19544
- Lau, A, Witting, P, Chaufour, X, Celermajer, D, Pettersson, K, Stocker, R. Protective effects of probucol in two animal models of atherosclerosis. Redox Report. 2000; 5:116-118
