Current BIRCWH Scholars
Dr. Egle Bytautiene, M.D., PhD
1991–1992 Physician-Resident of Internal Medicine, Vilnius University Santariskes Hospital, Lithuania
1992–1997 Researcher, Heartscan, Inc, Nashville, Tenn
1997–2005 Research Fellow, Research Investigator Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX
2005, 2006 Visiting Scientist, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska University, Stockholm, Sweden
2006–2011 Instructor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, UTMB, Galveston, TX
2011- Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine UTMB, Galveston, TX
2011- BIRCWH Scholar, UTMB, Galveston, TX
Research Interests:
Dr. Bytautiene's areas of research include effects of maternal prepregnancy obesity and preeclampsia on long-term maternal and offspring health and obesity during pregnancy and postpartum.
Selected Publications:
Maged M Costantine, MD, Esther H Tamayo, Fanxgian Lu, MD PhD, Egle Bytautiene, MD, Monica Longo, MD PhD, Gary DV Hankins, MD, George R. Saade, MD. Using Pravastatin to Improve the Vascular Reactivity in a Mouse Model of Soluble Fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase-1-Induced Preeclampsia. Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Jul;116(1):114-20.
Chiossi G, Costantine MM, Betancourt A, Hankins GDV, Longo M, Saade G, Bytautiene E.Does sildenafil citrate affect myometrial contractile response to nifedipine in vitro? Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Sep;203(3):252.e1-5. Epub 2010 Jun 11.
Chiossi G, Costantine MM, Betancourt A, Hankins GDV, Longo M, Saade G, Bytautiene E. Effect of maternal body mass index on in vitro response to tocolytics in term myometrium. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Sep;203(3):261.e1-5. Epub 2010 Jul 14.
Drever N, Saade GR, Bytautiene E. Fetal programming: Early-life modulations that affect adult outcomes. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2010 Nov;10(6):453-9.
Bytautiene E, Tamayo E, Kechichian ET, Drever N, Gamble P, Hankins GD, Saade GR. Prepregnancy obesity and sFlt1-induced preeclampsia in mice: developmental programming model of metabolic syndrome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2011 Mar 26.
Mateus J, Bytautiene E, Lu F, Betancourt A, Tamayo EH, Hankins GD, Longo M, Saade GR. Endothelial growth factor therapy improves preelampsia-like manifestations in a murine model induced by over-expression of SVEGFR-1. AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2011 (in press).
Bytautiene E, Lu F, Tamayo EH, Hankins GD, Longo M, Kublickiene K, Saade GR. Long-term maternal cardiovascular function in a mouse model of sFlt-1-induced preeclampsia. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2010 Jan;298(1):H189-93.
Bytautiene E, Vedernikov YP, Saade GR, Romero R, Garfield RE. Effect of mast cell degranulating agent on vascular resistance in human placental vascular bed and on the tone of isolated placental vessels. Reprod Sci. 2008;15:26-32.
Lu F, Bytautiene E, Tamayo E, Gamble P, Anderson G, Hankins G, Longo M, Saade G. Gender-specific effect of over-expression of sFlt-1 in pregnant mice on fetal programming of blood pressure in the offspring later in life. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2007; 197:418.e1-5.
Bytautiene E, Romero RR, Vedernikov YP, El-Zeky F, Saade GR, Garfield RE. Induction of Premature labor and Delivery by Allergic Reaction and Prevention by Histamine H1 receptor antagonist. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004;191:1356-1361.
Dr. Elizabeth Lyons
2010 - PhD., Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
2005 - M.P.H., Health Behavior and Health Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
2002 - B.A. with High Honors, English and Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
2011-present Assistant Professor, Institute for Translational Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
2010-2011 Postdoctoral Fellow, Interdisciplinary Obesity Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
2008-2010 Project Coordinator (Presence: Predicting Sensory and Control Effects of Home Console Video Games), Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
2007-2009 Predoctoral Fellow, Cancer Control Education Program, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
2006-2007 Graduate Research Assistant (Identifying and Disseminating Best Practices for Health eCommunities), Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
2003-2006 Graduate Research Assistant, (Health eCommunities), Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Research Interests:
Elizabeth's research is focused on the use of technology for health promotion. Health topics of most interest to her are obesity, physical activity, chronic disease and aging. Her research has included pro-anorexia websites, online cancer mailing lists for survivors and caregivers, and the effects of video games on energy expenditure and intake.
She is currently studying video games as a tool to increase physical activity and decrease sedentary behavior, the prevalence of behavioral weight loss tools in fitness video games and changes over time in active video game use in older adult women.
Selected Publications:
Lyons, E.J., Tate, D.F., Ward, D.S., Ribisl, K.R., Bowling, J.M., & Kalyanaraman, S. (in press). Do motion controllers make traditional video games less sedentary? Journal of Obesity.
Lyons, E.J., Tate, D.F., Ward, D.S., Bowling, J.M., Ribisl, K.R., & Kalyanaraman, S. (2011). Energy expenditure and enjoyment during video game play in adults: differences by game type. Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, 43(10), 1987-1993.
Fogel, J., Ribisl, K.M., Morgan, P.D., Humphreys, K. & Lyons, E.J. (2008). The underrepresentation of African Americans in online cancer support groups. Journal of the National Medical Association, 100(6), 705-712.
Meier, A., Lyons, E.J., Frydman, G., Forlenza, M. & Rimer, B. (2007). How cancer survivors provide support on cancer-related Internet mailing lists. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 9(2), e12. Available at: http://www.jmir.org/2007/2/e12
Bowling, J.M., Rimer, B.K., Lyons, E.J., Golin, C.E., Frydman, G., & Ribisl, K.M. (2006). Methodological challenges of e-health research. Evaluation and Program Planning, 29, 390-396.
Lyons, E.J., Mehl, M.R., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2006). Pro-anorexics and recovering anorexics differ in their linguistic Internet self-presentation. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60(3), 253-256.
Rimer, B.K., Lyons, E.J., Ribisl, K.M., Bowling, J.M., Golin, C.E., Forlenza, M.J., & Meier, A. (2005). How new subscribers use cancer-related online mailing lists: cross-sectional web-based survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 7(3), e11. Available at: http://www.jmir.org/2005/3/e11
Dr. Erik Rytting
2005 PhD, The University of Kansas
2006-2008 Postdoctoral Fellow, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany
2008-2009 Postdoctoral Fellow and Instructor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark 2009-present Assistant Professor, UTMB Dept. of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Research Interests:
Dr. Rytting's research lab is working to develop improved drug delivery strategies, with special emphasis on drug and nanoparticle transport across the placenta in order to address the needs of pregnant women requiring medical therapy or diagnostics, and to answer questions regarding the safety of medication during pregnancy in relation to fetal development.
Dr. Rytting conducted postdoctoral research to develop biocompatible nanoparticles for controlled drug delivery in the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology & Biopharmacy at Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany. He also received training in human placental perfusion techniques in the Institute of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Other research projects have included in silico modeling to predict drug solubility, pharmacokinetic data analysis, nanotoxicology (safety assessment of nanomaterials), and the use of molecular biology techniques, hypoxia, and fluorescence to characterize the expression and function of drug transporter proteins in the placenta.
Selected Publications:
Mørck TJ, Sorda G, Bechi N, Rasmussen BS, Nielsen JB, Ietta F, Rytting E, Mathiesen L, Paulesu LR, and Knudsen LE. Placental transport and in vitro effects of Bisphenol A. Reproductive Toxicology. 2010; 29.
Rytting E, Bur M, Cartier R, Bouyssou T, Wang X, Krüger M, Lehr CM, and Kissel T. In vitro and in vivo performance of biocompatible negatively-charged salbutamol-loaded nanoparticles. Journal of Controlled Release. 2010;141:101-107.
Poulsen MS, Rytting E, Mose T, and Knudsen LE. Modeling placental transport: Correlation of in vitro BeWo cell permeability and ex vivo human placental perfusion. Toxicology in Vitro. 2009; 23: 1380-1386.
Mathiesen L, Rytting E, Mose T, and Knudsen LE. Transport of Benzo[a]pyrene in the dually perfused human placenta perfusion model: Effect of albumin in the perfusion medium. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. 2009; 105: 181-187.
Rytting E, Nguyen J, Wang X, and Kissel T. Biodegradable polymeric nanocarriers for pulmonary drug delivery. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery. 2008; 5: 629-639.
Dr. Sarah Tom
2002 - B.A., Economics, University of California, Berkeley.
2003 - M.A., Demography, University of California, Berkeley.
2004 - M.P.H., Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley
2007 - Ph.D., Demography, University of California, Berkeley.
Research Interests:
Sarah Tom’s research examines health and mortality from mid-life through later life, with emphasis on menopause, sleep, and disability. She is currently a BIRCWH Scholar. Sarah joins PMCH following postdoctoral experience at the Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing in the United Kingdom, the National Institute on Aging, and the Group Health Research Institute.
Selected Publications:
Tom SE, Cooper R, Patel KV, Guralnik JM. Menopausal characteristics and physical functioning in older adulthood in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Menopause. Forthcoming.
Tom SE, Cooper R, Wallace RB, Guralnik JM. Type and Timing of Menopause and Later Life All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Among Women in the Iowa EPESE Cohort. J Womens Health (Larchmt). Forthcoming.
Tom SE, Anderson ML, Landis CL, Aiello Bowles EJ, Woods NF, Reed SD, Newton KM, Buist DSM. "Sleep problems after short-term hormone therapy suspension: Secondary analysis of a randomized trial." Under review.
Tom SE, Kuh D, Guralnik J, Mishra GD. "Trouble sleeping during the menopausal transition: Results from the MRC 1946 birth cohort." Menopause. In press.
Tom SE, Anderson ML, Landis CA, Aiello Bowles EJ, Woods NF, Reed SD, Newton KM, Buist DS. Sleep problems after short-term hormone therapy suspension: secondary analysis of a randomized trial. Menopause. 2011 Nov;18(11):1184-90.
Tom SE, Cooper R, Hardy R, Kuh D, Guralnik J, Power C. "The relationship between foetal environment and early age at natural menopause in a British birth cohort study." Human Reproduction. 2010. 25(3): 791-8.
Tom SE, Kuh D, Guralnik JM, Mishra GD. Self-reported sleep difficulty during the menopausal transition: results from a prospective cohort study. Menopause. 2010 Nov-Dec;17(6):1128-35.
Tom SE, Kuh D, Guralnik J, Mishra GD. "Patterns in trouble sleeping among women at mid-life: Results from a British prospective cohort study." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2009. 63(12):974-9.
Mishra GD, Cooper R, Tom SE, Kuh D. "Early life circumstances and their impact on menarche and menopause." Women's Health. 2009. 5(9):175-90.
Applicants can send a complete application packet to Abbey B. Berenson, MD, MMS, PhD
