Peter Douglas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Endowed Title Southwestern Medical Foundation Scholar in Biomedical Research
School Medical School
Department Molecular Biology
Graduate Programs Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Development and Disease, Neuroscience
Biography
Peter Douglas, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado in Boulder and earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. As a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Douglas Cyr, Peter used different methods in biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology to understand the mechanisms by which protein homeostasis machinery detoxifies misfolded, aggregation-prone proteins.
In 2009, he joined the laboratory of Andrew Dillin at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, and later the University of California in Berkeley, California. There he uncovered novel links between classical stress response function and the actin cytoskeleton network.
In 2015, Peter joined the faculty at UT Southwestern as an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Biology. Peter was awarded fellowships from the American Heart Association, National Institute of Health on the Neuroplasticity of Aging and the George E. Hewitt Medical Foundation. He also received a Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from the National Institute of Health. As an assistant professor, Peter received a Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recruitment of a first-time, tenure-track faculty member award and is an Endowed Scholar in biomedical research.
Education
- Undergraduate
- Uni of Colorado-Boulder (2001), Biochemistry
- Graduate School
- University of N C-Chapel Hill (2009), Molecular & Cell Biology
Research Interest
- Cellular Energetics
- Lipid Sensing & Surveillance
- Molecular Genetics of Aging
- Protein Homeostasis
- Stress Response Signaling
- Traumatic Brain Injury
Publications
Featured Publications
- Loss of heat shock factor initiates intracellular lipid surveillance by actin destabilization.
- Watterson A, Arneaud SLB, Wajahat N, Wall JM, Tatge L, Beheshti ST, Mihelakis M, Cheatwood NY, McClendon J, Ghorashi A, Dehghan I, Corley CD, McDonald JG, Douglas PM, Cell Rep 2022 10 41 3 111493
- Reduced bone morphogenic protein signaling along the gut-neuron axis by heat shock factor promotes longevity.
- Arneaud SLB, McClendon J, Tatge L, Watterson A, Zuurbier KR, Madhu B, Gumienny TL, Douglas PM, Aging Cell 2022 Aug e13693
- Intracellular lipid surveillance by small G protein geranylgeranylation.
- Watterson A, Tatge L, Wajahat N, Arneaud SLB, Solano Fonseca R, Beheshti ST, Metang P, Mihelakis M, Zuurbier KR, Corley CD, Dehghan I, McDonald JG, Douglas PM, Nature 2022 05 605 7911 736-740
- Glycolytic preconditioning in astrocytes mitigates trauma-induced neurodegeneration.
- Solano Fonseca R, Metang P, Egge N, Liu Y, Zuurbier KR, Sivaprakasam K, Shirazi S, Chuah A, Arneaud SL, Konopka G, Qian D, Douglas PM, Elife 2021 Sep 10
- Trauma-induced regulation of VHP-1 modulates the cellular response to mechanical stress.
- Nathan Egge, Sonja L. B. Arneaud, Rene Solano Fonseca, Kielen R. Zuurbier, Jacob McClendon, Peter M. Douglas Nat Commun 2021 12 1484
- Age-Onset Phosphorylation of a Minor Actin Variant Promotes Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction.
- Egge N, Arneaud SLB, Wales P, Mihelakis M, McClendon J, Fonseca RS, Savelle C, Gonzalez I, Ghorashi A, Yadavalli S, Lehman WJ, Mirzaei H, Douglas PM, Dev Cell 2019 12 51 5 587-601.e7
- A framework for intestinal barrier dysfunction in aging.
- Tatge L, Solano Fonseca R, Douglas PM, Nat Aging 2023 Sep
- Intracellular lipid surveillance: Modulating protein dynamics through lipid sensing.
- Watterson A, Douglas PM, Clin Transl Med 2022 Dec 12 12 e1147
- Quantitative pupillometry in patients with traumatic brain injury and loss of consciousness: A prospective pilot study.
- Traylor JI, El Ahmadieh TY, Bedros NM, Al Adli N, Stutzman SE, Venkatachalam AM, Pernik MN, Collum CM, Douglas PM, Aiyagari V, Bagley CA, Olson DM, Aoun SG, J Clin Neurosci 2021 Sep 91 88-92
- Simultaneous Control of Endogenous and User-Defined Genetic Pathways Using Unique ecDHFR Pharmacological Chaperones.
- Ramadurgum P, Woodard DR, Daniel S, Peng H, Mallipeddi PL, Niederstrasser H, Mihelakis M, Chau VQ, Douglas PM, Posner BA, Hulleman JD, Cell Chem Biol 2020 Mar
Honors & Awards
- Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Award
(2022) - NIH (RO1) National Institute on Aging Award
(2022-2027) - NIH (R01) National Institute on Aging Award
(2021-2022) - Welch Foundation Award
(2021-2024) - Clayton Medical Foundation Investigator Award
(2020) - NIH (R01) National Institute of Health Award
(2019-2024) - American Federation of Aging Research (AFAR) Young Investigator Award
(2017-2019) - Texas Institute of Brain Injury Research (TIBIR) Pilot Award
(2017-2018) - Welch Foundation Award in Chemical Biology
(2017-2020) - Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging
(2016-2018) - Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members
(2015) - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Endowed Scholar
(2015) - K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award NIH/NIA
(2013-2018) - George Hewitt Medical Foundation Scholar
(2010-2013) - Neuroplasticity of Aging Postdoctoral Training Fellowship
(2009-2010) - American Heart Association Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
(2006-2008)
Professional Associations/Affiliations
- Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine (2015)