Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in adult americans. Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and effects 1 in 3 adults. In younger adults, men have higher rates of hypertension than women, but as the population ages, women catch up and surpass men for rates of hypertension. Sex hormones effect many of the systems that regulate our blood pressure, and as women age their homones shift.
I use computational models to investigate why young adult women are protected against hypertension and how these sex differences translate into differences in anti-hypertensive drug treatment efficacy and risk factors. I hope to identify which drug treatments may be more beneficial for each sex, as well as identify new targets and therapies. Computational models are a powerful tool to quantify our understanding of biological systems and investigate hypotheses more quickly and cheaply than experiments or clinical trials. During my time working with Dr. Anita Layton, we have been the only people to use computational models to investigate sex differences in blood pressure regulation in both humans and rats.
Click below to find out more about the research I've been involved in:
Leete, Jessica, Francisco J. López-Hernández, and Anita T. Layton. Determining Risk Factors for Triple Whammy AKI using Computational Models of Long-Term Blood Pressure Regulation. In Progress.
Ahmed, Sameed*, Rui Hu*, Jessica Leete*, and Anita T. Layton. “Understanding Sex Differences in Long-term Blood Pressure Regulation: Insights from Experimental Studies and Computational Modeling." American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology 316.5 (2019): H1113-H1123. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00035.2019
Leete, Jessica, and Anita T. Layton. “Sex-Specific Long-Term Blood Pressure Regulation: Modeling and Analysis." Computers in Biology and Medicine 104 (2019): 139-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.002
Leete, Jessica, Susan Gurley, and Anita T. Layton. “Modeling Sex Differences in the Renin Angiotensin System and the Efficacy of Antihypertensive Therapies.” Computers & Chemical Engineering 112 (2018): 253-264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2018.02.009