The Mesarwi Lab at UC San Diego

Hypoxia is a fundamental biological process that induces a variety of physiological changes. We are trying to understand some of the mechanisms accounting for these changes.

Research

Our laboratory uses in vivo approaches to understand how different models of hypoxia influence important physiological outcomes. We focus on:

The impact of lung tissue hypoxia in acute lung injury in COVID-19

How obesity impacts cardiovascular and metabolic physiology in hypoxia

How hepatocyte hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) impacts glucose and lipid metabolism in hypoxia

The impact of time restricted feeding on dysglycemia in intermittent hypoxia

News & Events

May 2023: What a remarkable job everyone did presenting our work at ATS! Congratulations to Chloe, Megan, Laura, and Nola for their presentations of our work! Alyssa and Ana also presented some of their work from other labs.

April 2023: Zeta, Chloe, and Megan presented their work at the UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference!

April 2023: We had a great time celebrating our lab accomplishments at our lab dinner at Il Fornaio in Coronado!

March 2023: Laura presented some of her important work on the effects of intermittent hypoxia in a mouse model of COVID-19, at the 17th International Symposium on Sleep and Breathing in Auckland, New Zealand!

February 2023: Welcome to Alyssa Self, our newest member! She will be working on a translational project investigating the impact of time restricted eating in patients with OSA, funded by a UCSD grant!

January 2023: Congratulations to Ana, Megan, Nola, Chloe, Laura, and Alyssa for having their work accepted at the 2023 ATS Conference!

July 2022: Congratulations to Laura for her appointment as an attending physician in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and Physiology!

May 2022: Oh boy, we're presenting a lot of our research at ATS! Click here for the full list of UCSD presenters. Jennifer, Michelle, Laura, and Ana are among them. See you there!

February 2022: Welcome to new lab members! We're lucky to have you join our group, Nola, Zeta, Megan, Charlotte, and Chloe!

Latest Publications

Combined intermittent and sustained hypoxia is a novel and deleterious cardio-metabolic phenotype

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and obstructive sleep apnea overlap syndrome is associated with excess mortality, and outcomes are related to the degree of hypoxemia. People at high altitude are susceptible to periodic breathing, and hypoxia at altitude is associated with cardio-metabolic dysfunction. Hypoxemia in these scenarios may be described as superimposed sustained plus intermittent hypoxia, or overlap hypoxia (OH), the effects of which have not been investigated. We aimed to characterize the cardio-metabolic consequences of OH in mice.

Racial and social injustice have historically contributed to the lack of diversity in the biomedical sciences. Our laboratory group is committed to encouraging the wider UCSD community to advocate for:

The principle of diversity as a strength and a bedrock upon which stands our desired experience at UCSD;
Contributions to anti-racist work, both within and beyond UCSD borders;
Equality of opportunity, dignity, and respect for all in our research field and on our campus, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or background.

These are the expectations of all our group. We strive to take meaningful action inside and outside our workplace to create an inclusive, welcoming, and supportive culture. We encourage you to talk to us to learn more about our commitments.