Lisa A. Lesniewski

Lisa A. Lesniewski, MA, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Internal Medicine

Divisions: Geriatrics

Lab

Dr. Lesniewski is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology. She is a GRECC investigator and the Co-Principal Investigator of the Translational Vascular Physiology Lab.

Research Statement

Dr. Lesniewski's primary research interests are to understand how aging modulates the susceptibility of the vascular and metabolic systems to high fat feeding/obesity and to understand how aging modifies atherosclerotic burden and severity. Within these general research areas, Dr. Lesniewski examines the role that adipose inflammation plays in inducing systemic metabolic and vascular dysfunction with aging and high fat feeding, as well as the role of adipose tissue a in this systemic dysfunction. To examine these interests, Dr. Lesniewski utilizes dietary and genetic manipulation of rodent models to examine whole body and in vitro metabolic and vascular function. In addition, Dr. Lesniewski utilizes genetic and surgical models of atherosclerosis to elucidate novel pathways that modulate atheroslcerotic burden and severity across the lifespan.

Education History

Undergraduate Ohio State University
 BS
Graduate Training Kent State University
 MA
Doctoral Training Texas A&M University
 PhD
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of California-San Diego
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Colorado-Boulder
 Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Walker AE, Kronquist EK, Chinen KT, Reihl KD, Li DY, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2019). Cerebral and skeletal muscle feed artery vasoconstrictor responses in a mouse model with greater large elastic artery stiffness. Experimental physiology, 104(3), 434-442. (Read full article)
  2. Islam MT, Henson GD, Machin DR, Bramwell RC, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2020). Aging differentially impacts vasodilation and angiogenesis in arteries from the white and brown adipose tissues. Experimental gerontology, 142, 111126. (Read full article)
  3. Morgan RG, Walker AE, Trott DW, Machin DR, Henson GD, Reihl KD, Cawthon RM, Denchi EL, Liu Y, Bloom SI, Phuong TT, Richardson RS, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2019). Induced Trf2 deletion leads to aging vascular phenotype in mice associated with arterial telomere uncapping, senescence signaling, and oxidative stress. Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology, 127, 74-82. (Read full article)
  4. Islam MT, Hall SA, Lesniewski L (2021). Chronic aerobic exercise: targeting two birds with one stone. The Journal of physiology, 599(4), 1015-1016. (Read full article)
  5. Trott DW, Machin DR, Phuong TT, Adeyemo AO, Bloom SI, Bramwell RC, Sorensen ES, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2021). T cells mediate cell non-autonomous arterial aging in mice. The Journal of physiology, 599, 3973-3991. (Read full article)
  6. Phuong TTT, Walker AE, Henson GD, Machin DR, Li DY, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2019). Deletion of Robo4 prevents high-fat diet-induced adipose artery and systemic metabolic dysfunction. Microcirculation (New York, N.Y., 26(5), e12540. (Read full article)
  7. Islam MT, Holland WL, Lesniewski L (2021). Multicolor fluorescence biosensors reveal a burning need for diversity in the single-cell metabolic landscape. Trends in endocrinology and metabolism, 32, 537-539. (Read full article)
  8. Hazra S, Henson GD, Bramwell RC, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2019). Impact of high-fat diet on vasoconstrictor reactivity of white and brown adipose tissue resistance arteries. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 316(3), H485-H494. (Read full article)
  9. Machin DR, Auduong Y, Gogulamudi VR, Liu Y, Islam MT, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2020). Lifelong SIRT-1 overexpression attenuates large artery stiffening with advancing age. Aging, 12(12), 11314-11324. (Read full article)
  10. Zhang Y, Ecelbarger CM, Lesniewski LA, Müller CE, Kishore B (2020). P2Y2 Receptor Promotes High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity. Frontiers in endocrinology, 11, 341. (Read full article)
  11. Walker AE, Breevoort SR, Durrant JR, Liu Y, Machin DR, Dobson PS, Nielson EI, Meza AJ, Islam MT, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2019). The pro-atherogenic response to disturbed blood flow is increased by a western diet, but not by old age. Scientific reports, 9(1), 2925. (Read full article)
  12. Trott DW, Islam MT, Buckley DJ, Donato AJ, Dutson T, Sorensen ES, Cai J, Gogulamudi VR, Phuong TTT, Lesniewski L (2021). T lymphocyte depletion ameliorates age-related metabolic impairments in mice. GeroScience, 43(3), 1331-1347. (Read full article)
  13. Gogulamudi VR, Machin DR, Henson GD, Lim J, Bramwell RC, Durrant JR, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2022). Sirt1 overexpression attenuates Western-style diet-induced aortic stiffening in mice. Physiological reports, 10(9), e15284. (Read full article)
  14. Bloom SI, Tucker JR, Lim J, Thomas TG, Stoddard GJ, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2022). Aging results in DNA damage and telomere dysfunction that is greater in endothelial versus vascular smooth muscle cells and is exacerbated in atheroprone regions. GeroScience, 44(6), 2741-2755. (Read full article)
  15. Gogulamudi VR, Islam MT, Durrant JR, Adeyemo AO, Trott DW, Hyuhn MH, Zhu W, Donato AJ, Walker AE, Lesniewski L (2023). Heterozygosity for ADP-ribosylation factor 6 suppresses the burden and severity of atherosclerosis. PloS one, 18(5), e0285253. (Read full article)
  16. Gogulamudi VR, Durrant JR, Adeyemo AO, Ho HM, Walker AE, Lesniewski L (2023). Advancing age increases the size and severity of spontaneous atheromas in mouse models of atherosclerosis. GeroScience, 45, 1913-1931. (Read full article)
  17. Islam MT, Tuday E, Allen S, Kim J, Trott DW, Holland WL, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2023). Senolytic drugs, dasatinib and quercetin, attenuate adipose tissue inflammation, and ameliorate metabolic function in old age. Aging cell, 22(2), e13767. (Read full article)
  18. Machin DR,Trott DW,Gogulamudi VR,Islam MT,Bloom SI,Vink H,Lesniewski LA,Donato A (2023). Glycocalyx-targeted therapy ameliorates age-related arterial dysfunction. GeroScience, 45, 2351-2365. (Read full article)
  19. Bloom SI, Liu Y, Tucker JR, Islam MT, Machin DR, Abdeahad H, Thomas TG, Bramwell RC, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2023). Endothelial cell telomere dysfunction induces senescence and results in vascular and metabolic impairments. Aging cell, 22(8), e13875. (Read full article)
  20. Islam MT, Cai J, Allen S, Moreno DG, Bloom SI, Bramwell RC, Mitton J, Horn AG, Zhu W, Donato AJ, Holland WL, Lesniewski L (2024). Endothelial-Specific Reduction in Arf6 Impairs Insulin-Stimulated Vasodilation and Skeletal Muscle Blood Flow Resulting in Systemic Insulin Resistance in Mice. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 44(5), 1101-1113. (Read full article)
  21. Islam MT, Hall SA, Dutson T, Bloom SI, Bramwell RC, Kim J, Tucker JR, Machin DR, Donato AJ, Lesniewski L (2024). Endothelial cell-specific reduction in mTOR ameliorates age-related arterial and metabolic dysfunction. Aging cell, 23(2), e14040. (Read full article)
  22. Madkour MI, Islam MT, Tippetts TS, Chowdhury KH, Lesniewski LA, Summers SA, Zeb F, Abdelrahim DN, AlKurd R, Khraiwesh HM, AbuShihab KH, AlBakri A, Obaideen K, Faris M (2023). Ramadan intermittent fasting is associated with ameliorated inflammatory markers and improved plasma sphingolipids/ceramides in subjects with obesity: lipidomics analysis. Scientific reports, 13(1), 17322. (Read full article)
  23. Bloom SI, Tucker JR, Machin DR, Abdeahad H, Adeyemo AO, Thomas TG, Bramwell RC, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2023). Reduction of double-strand DNA break repair exacerbates vascular aging. Aging, 15(19), 9913-9947. (Read full article)
  24. Hall SA, Lesniewski L (2024). Targeting vascular senescence in cardiovascular disease with aging. The journal of cardiovascular aging, 4(2), (Read full article)
  25. Bloom SI, Tuday E, Islam T, Gogulamudi VR, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2023). Senolytics Reduce Endothelial Cell DNA Damage and Telomere Dysfunction Despite Reductions in Telomere Length. Aging biology, 1, (Read full article)
  26. Abdeahad H, Moreno DG, Bloom SI, Huang H, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2025). Senolytic therapy increases replicative capacity by eliminating senescent endothelial cells. Experimental gerontology, 211, 112885. (Read full article)
  27. Machin DR, Islam MT, Malouf A, Nguyen D, Sabouri M, Boulos M, Horn AG, Schulze KM, Layec G, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2025). Glycocalyx-targeted therapy prevents age-related muscle loss and declines in maximal exercise capacity. Aging, 17, (Read full article)
  28. Lim J, Kim J, Abdeahad H, Hall SA, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2025). Late-Life Aerobic Exercise Attenuates DNA Damage and Telomere Dysfunction in Non-Atheroprone but Not in Atheroprone Aortic Regions. Aging cell, e70196. (Read full article)
  29. Buckley DJ, Zahedi S, Velusamy P, Sharma S, Sabnani M, Flores LC, Tandukar G, Ikeno Y, Fadel PJ, Lesniewski LA, Trott D (2025). Early-life thymectomy results in visceral adipose tissue inflammation and glucose intolerance. Immunity & ageing, 22(1), 36. (Read full article)
  30. Abdeahad H, Moreno DG, Bloom S, Norman L, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2025). MitoQ reduces senescence burden in Doxorubicin-treated endothelial cells by reducing mitochondrial ROS and DNA damage. American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 329(5), H1154-H1161. (Read full article)

Review

  1. Bloom SI, Islam MT, Lesniewski LA, Donato A (2022). Mechanisms and consequences of endothelial cell senescence. Nature reviews. Cardiology, 20(1), 38-51. (Read full article)

Other

  1. Madkour MI, Islam MT, Tippetts TS, Chowdhury KH, Lesniewski LA, Summers SA, Zeb F, Abdelrahim DN, AlKurd R, Khraiwesh HM, AbuShihab KH, AlBakri A, Obaideen K, Faris M (2023). Publisher Correction: Ramadan intermittent fasting is associated with ameliorated inflammatory markers and improved plasma sphingolipids/ceramides in subjects with obesity: lipidomics analysis. Scientific reports, 13(1), 22671. (Read full article)

Video/Film/CD/Web/Podcast

  1. Lesniewski LA, Wenceslau C, Zucker (2019). Vasoconstriction in White and Brown Adipose.