John Giacona, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Assistant Professor Schools School of Health Professions Departments Applied Clinical Research | Internal Medicine Biography John Giacona, Ph.D., PA-C, is an Assistant Professor in the Applied Clinical Research Department at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Internal Medicine. He is a board-certified Physician Assistant and certified Hypertension Specialist practicing at the Clinical Heart and Vascular Center as a member of the Hypertension Section in the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Giacona earned his Bachelor of Science and Arts in Biology from The University of Texas at Austin. He received his Master of Physician Assistant Studies and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from UT Southwestern Medical Center. His research focuses on the role of nutrition and exercise in the autonomic regulation of blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein metabolism, and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function, with a growing emphasis on cardiometabolic contributions to brain health and cognitive decline. He is funded by the North Texas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) at UT Southwestern to investigate mechanisms linking hypertension and metabolic dysfunction to cerebrovascular outcomes. In addition to his research, Dr. Giacona contributes to medical education through the Departments of Physician Assistant Studies and Healthcare Sciences, where he leads the cardiovascular and endocrinology clinical medicine sections of the curriculum. Dr. Giacona currently serves as a board member of the Academy of Physician Associates in Cardiology as President-Elect and Chair of Preventive Cardiology, and is a member of several other professional organizations, including the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the American College of Cardiology, and the Texas Academy of Physician Assistants. He also serves as a member on the American Heart Association's Hypertension Professional/Public Education & Publications Committee for the Council on Hypertension. Education Graduate School UT Southwestern Medical Center (2021), Physician Assistant Research Interest Clinical Lipidology Mitochondrial Function Neural Control of Blood Pressure Primary Aldosteronism Resistant Hypertension Skeletal Muscle Energetics Publications Featured Publications Resistant Hypertension in Older Adults. Giacona JM, Vongpatanasin W, Clin Geriatr Med 2024 Nov 40 4 645-658 Trends in Primary Aldosteronism Screening Among High-Risk Hypertensive Adults. Kositanurit W, Giacona JM, Xie D, Wang J, Feuer D, O'Malley KJ, Navar AM, Vaidya A, Cohen JB, Vongpatanasin W, J Am Heart Assoc 2024 Jul e036373 Association between Dietary Phosphate Intake on Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function in Adults without Cardiovascular Disease. Giacona JM, Afridi A, Bezan Petric U, Johnson T, Pastor J, Ren J, Sandon L, Malloy C, Pandey A, Shah A, Berry JD, Moe OW, Vongpatanasin W, J Appl Physiol (1985) 2024 Mar Management of Resistant Hypertension-An Update. Giacona JM, Kositanurit W, Vongpatanasin W, JAMA Intern Med 2024 Feb HDL-C and Apolipoprotein A-I are Independently Associated with Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function in Healthy Humans. Giacona JM, Bezan Petric UB, Kositanurit W, Wang J, Saldanha S, Young BE, Khan G, Connelly MA, Smith SA, Rohatgi A, Vongpatanasin W, Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2024 Feb Associations Between Cardiac Function and Brain Health in Diverse Middle-Aged Adults: The Dallas Heart Study-2. Giacona JM, Chia R, Kositanurit W, Wang J, Ayers C, Pandey A, Kozlitina J, Drazner MH, Garg S, de Lemos JA, Zhang R, Hajjar I, Yu FF, Lacritz L, Vongpatanasin W, JACC Adv 2024 Feb 3 2 100777 Associations Between High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Efflux and Brain Grey Matter Volume. Giacona, John M., Jijia Wang, Rong Zhang, Brendan J. Kelley, Ihab Hajjar, Binu P. Thomas, Fang F. Yu, James A. de Lemos, Anand Rohatgi, and Wanpen Vongpatanasin J. Clin. Med. 2024 20 13 6218 Potassium Magnesium Citrate Is Superior to Potassium Chloride in Reversing Metabolic Side Effects of Chlorthalidone. Vongpatanasin W, Giacona JM, Pittman D, Murillo A, Khan G, Wang J, Johnson T, Ren J, Moe O, Pak CCY, Hypertension 2023 Oct Utility of standing office blood pressure in detecting hypertension in healthy adults. Giacona JM, Kositanurit W, Wang J, Petric UB, Khan G, Pittman D, Williamson JW, Smith SA, Vongpatanasin W, Sci Rep 2023 Sep 13 1 15572 Trends in Salt Substitute Use Among Adults in the United States from 2003 to 2020. Wei Y, Abraham J, Sandon L, Wang J, Price A, Giacona JM, Vongpatanasin W, Hypertension 2026 Mar 83 3 e26196 Results 1-10 of 18 1 2 Next Last Books Featured Books Clinics in Geriatric Medicine: Resistant Hypertension in Older Adults John M. Giacona, Ph.D., PA-C, and Wanpen Vongpatanasin, M.D. (2024). Elsevier Inc. Honors & Awards ADRC Research ScholarNorth Texas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (2026) Stroke Council Award and Travel GrantAmerican Heart Association (2024) Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Honor of Jon Williamson, PhDUT Southwestern Applied Clinical Research Department (2023) Student Excellency in Service Award in Honor of John Schermerhorn, MDUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2023) Capra Symposium Research Competition WinnerUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2022) Student Excellency in Research Award in Honor of Raul Caetano, MD, PhDUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2022) Alpha Eta National Honor SocietyUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2020) Pi Alpha National Physician Assistant Honor SocietyUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2020) Student Excellency in Clinical Care Award in Honor of Gordon Green, MDUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2020) Student Excellency in Leadership Award in Honor of Ruth Guy, MDUT Southwestern School of Health Professions (2020) Professional Associations/Affiliations Academy of Physician Associates in Cardiology (2022) American Academy of Physician Associates (2017) American College of Cardiology (2021) American Heart Association (2021) American Physiological Society (2022) Primary Aldosteronism Foundation (2024)
