Radical View | January 2024

David Jourd'heuil, PhD, F-SfRBM
Albany Medical College

Prepared by: Nathalia Rocco Machado

Congratulations for being selected as a 2023 SfRBM Fellow inductee! How did you initially become interested in redox biology? Can you tell us about your first SfRBM meeting?

My first SfRBM meeting was the “1st Annual Meeting of the Oxygen Society” in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1993. I was a second year PhD student in the Department of Gastroenterology at the University of Calgary Medical School in Canada.  Before, I had done some graduate work at the University of Bordeaux in France where I studied the effect of antioxidants on non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation. In Calgary, I worked with Dr. Jon Meddings, a gastroenterologist who was studying the mechanisms by which oxidant-induced changes in membrane bilayer structure affect the activity of glucose transport across the intestinal epithelium. I think at the time I was more comfortable working with biophysical and biochemical models rather than more complex biological systems, and the topics of lipid peroxidation and redox biochemistry were things I felt confident I could continue working on.

What has been thus far your most exciting discovery in research?

I started my post-doctoral training when the biochemistry of nitric oxide and peroxynitrite was a hot topic. This was clearly an exciting time for making significant contributions on how these two molecules mediate biological functions. At the time, the S-nitrosation (or nitrosylation) of proteins at cysteine residues was also increasingly recognized as a new mechanism by which nitric oxide signaling may be perpetrated. At the end of my post-doctoral fellowship, I published a small paper showing the formation of circulating S-nitrosothiols in the mouse, in a model of septic shock. This was a small and to-the-point study, which was probably my first attempt in applying the biochemistry I had worked on in vitro to a pre-clinical model. Going back to the question, I am usually most excited by my current research and discoveries!  I have spent the past few years deciphering the function of non-erythrocytic hemoglobins such as cytoglobin. I believe we finally have a framework on how cytoglobin may regulate the function of cells such as smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts in the vascular wall. Hopefully, there will be more to come in the next few years!

Who has been your greatest teacher/mentor? What are the most important factors that have shaped your career?

I have been fortunate to have worked with great mentors throughout my graduate studies. I want to mention Jean-Pierre Iliou at Servier Pharmaceutical in France, Jon Meddings at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Matt Grisham at LSU-Shreveport in the USA. Many others have been inspirational in influencing my career choices; this includes many colleagues I have met at the SfRBM meetings over the past thirty years.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

There are two things I enjoy most about my job. First, I have been working together with my wife for the past 25 years! Second, there is nothing better than looking at a new result, realizing that the experiment might have worked, and imagining potential implications. Even for small finds, sharing this joy of discovery with students, trainees, and colleagues is most gratifying.

What are your hobbies outside the laboratory?

My house is a work in progress, and I enjoy serious improvement projects. I also enjoy running, cycling, hiking, and always reading.