Christopher Hearon, Ph.D.

Dr. Hearon is an Assistant Instructor in the Department of Applied Clinical Research and the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center where he completed a postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Benjamin Levine M.D. He was the recipient of a National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH, 2017-2020), and in 2020 received a Pathway to Independence Award (NIH; K99/R00) to investigate the mechanisms of vascular and autonomic dysfunction in obese and hypertensive patients. Other research interests include the regulation of oxygen transport and utilization in environmental extremes (high altitude, simulated space flight) and clinical conditions (heart failure).

• Autonomic physiology
• Cardiovascular ageing
• Cardiovascular physiology
• Environmental extremes (hypoxia, space flight)
• Heart failure
• Hypertension

Exercise intolerance in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: Causes, consequences and the journey towards a cure

Bunsawat K, Nelson MD, Hearon CM, Wray DW Experimental Physiology 2024 Apr 109 502-512

Sympathetic Neural Control at Rest and During the Cold Pressor Test in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Takeda R, Hissen SL, Akins JD, Washio T, Hearon CM, MacNamara JP, Sarma S, Levine BD, Fadel PJ, Fu Q Hypertension 2024 Apr 81 917-926

Potential for reducing resting sympathetic nerve activity with new classes of glucose-lowering drugs in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Washio T, Hissen SL, Takeda R, Akins JD, Wakeham DJ, Brazile T, Hearon CM, MacNamara JP, Sarma S, Levine BD, Fadel PJ, Fu Q Clinical Autonomic Research 2024 Feb 34 223-226

Effects of Synchronizing Foot Strike and Cardiac Phase on Exercise Hemodynamics in Patients With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: A Within-Subjects Pilot Study to Fine-Tune Cardio-Locomotor Coupling for Heart Failure

Wakeham DJ, Ivey E, Saland SA, Lewis JS, Palmer D, Morris M, Bleich JL, Weyand PG, Brazile TL, Hearon CM, Sarma S, MacNamara JP, Hieda M, Levine BD Circulation 2023 Dec 148 2008-2016

Assessment of venous pressure by compression sonography of the internal jugular vein during 3 days of bed rest

Hearon CM, Peters K, Dias KA, Macnamara JP, Marshall JE, Campain J, Martin D, Marshal-Goebel K, Levine BD Experimental Physiology 2023 Dec 108 1560-1568

Excess Pericardial Fat Is Related to Adverse Cardio-Mechanical Interaction in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Zamani SK, Sarma S, Macnamara JP, Hynan LS, Haykowsky MJ, Hearon CM, Wakeham D, Brazile T, Levine BD, Zaha VG, Nelson MD Circulation 2023 Oct 148 1410-1412

Randomized Controlled Trial of Moderate-and High-Intensity Exercise Training in Patients With Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Effects on Fitness and Cardiovascular Response to Exercise

Macnamara JP, Dias KA, Hearon CM, Ivey E, Delgado VA, Saland S, Samels M, Hieda M, Turer AT, Link MS, Sarma S, Levine BD Journal of the American Heart Association 2023 Oct 12

Characterizing regional and global effects of epicardial adipose tissue on cardiac systolic and diastolic function

Hearon CM, Reddy S, Dias KA, Shankar A, MacNamara J, Levine B, Sarma S Obesity 2023 Jul 31 1884-1893

Adrenergic control of skeletal muscle blood flow during chronic hypoxia in healthy males

Simpson LL, Hansen AB, Moralez G, Amin SB, Hofstaetter F, Gasho C, Stembridge M, Dawkins TG, Tymko MM, Ainslie PN, Lawley JS, Hearon CM American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2023 Apr 324 R457-R469

Challenging the Hemodynamic Hypothesis in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Is Exercise Capacity Limited by Elevated Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure?

Sarma S, Macnamara JP, Balmain BN, Hearon CM, Wakeham DJ, Tomlinson AR, Hynan LS, Babb TG, Levine BD Circulation 2023 Jan 147 378-387

• New Investigator Award, Neural Control & Autonomic Regulation Section of the American Physiological Society
  (2024)
• Postdoctoral Lecture, American College of Sports Medicine - Texas Chapter
  (2020)
• Post-Doctoral Research Award, Environmental & Exercise Physiology Section American Physiological Society
  Declined in order to accept NCAR Research Recognition Award (2019)
• Research Recognition Award, Neural Control & Autonomic Regulation Section American Physiological Society
  (2019)
• Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award American Physiological Society
  (2018)
• NIH Clinical Loan Repayment Program, NIH (NHLBI)
  (2017-2021)
• National Doctoral Scholar, American Kinesiology Association
  (2016)
• National Graduate Student Writing Award, American Kinesiology Association
  (2016)
• Pre-Doctoral Research Award, Environmental & Exercise Physiology Section American Physiological Society
  (2016)
• Caroline tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity Award American Physiological Society
  (2015)
• Outstanding Poster Award, Annual Meeting of the Microcirculatory Society
  (2013)
• Robert W. Gotshall Graduate Scholarship, College of Health and Human Sciences Colorado State University
  (2013)
• Mortar Board Member, Texas Tech University
  (2010)
• Undergraduate Scholar of the Year, Texas Chapter of ACSM
  (2009)

• American College of Sports Medicine
• American Heart Association
• American Physiological Society
• Wilderness Medical Society