Areas of Expertise

• Acute/chronic kidney failure

Education

• Ph.D., Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University
• Bachelors: Chowan University

Research

Research in Dr. Ratliff's laboratory investigates the mechanisms responsible for acute/chronic kidney failure and associated vascular impairment, including examination of potential therapeutic interventions for prevention of kidney damage/failure. More specifically, his laboratory’s research focuses on four of the following areas: 

1. Examination of fetal and developmental (organogenesis) programming that leads to the susceptibility of acute/chronic kidney disease and hypertension in the neonate and adult. This area of research also includes examination of impaired placental formation and function during gestation that leads to impaired fetal development.
2. Investigation of the role of oxidative stress in programming, promoting and progression of acute/chronic kidney disease and vascular impairment.
3. Investigation of pro-damage signaling “alarmins” (such as HMGB1) that are released from kidney cells rapidly after initial cellular stress (i.e., induced by factors such as hypoxia, toxins, oxidative stress, etc.). Such alarmins signal and stimulate local and systemic inflammation that leads to progressively worsening tissue injury.
4. Examination of the therapeutic efficacy of various stem cells (including renal mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells) and pharmacological agents for their ability to prevent and/or regenerate kidney and vascular tissues after injury.

Publications

• Lipphardt M, Dihazi H, Maas JH, et. al. "Syndecan-4 as a Marker of Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients with Resistant Hypertension." Journal of clinical medicine, 9(9), (2020) . doi: 10.3390/jcm9093051
• Rabadi MM, Abdulmahdi W, Nesi L, et. al. "Maternal malnourishment induced upregulation of fetuin-B blunts nephrogenesis in the low birth weight neonate." Developmental biology, 443(1), (2018) 78-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.09.001
• Abdulmahdi W, Rabadi MM, Jules E, et. al. "Kidney dysfunction in the low-birth weight murine adult: implications of oxidative stress." American journal of physiology. Renal physiology, 315(3), (2018) F583-F594. doi: 10.1152/ajprenal.00164.2018
• Lipphardt M, Dihazi H, Jeon NL, et. al. "Dickkopf-3 in aberrant endothelial secretome triggers renal fibroblast activation and endothelial-mesenchymal transition." Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association, 34(1), (2019) 49-62. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfy100
• Lipphardt M, Song JW, Ratliff BB, et. al. "Endothelial dysfunction is a superinducer of syndecan-4: fibrogenic role of its ectodomain." American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 314(3), (2018) H484-H496. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00548.2017
• Abdulmahdi W, Patel D, Rabadi MM, et. al. "HMGB1 redox during sepsis." Redox biology, 13(), (2017) 600-607. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2017.08.001
• Barnett C, Nnoli O, Abdulmahdi W, et. al. "Low birth weight is associated with impaired murine kidney development and function." Pediatric research, 82(2), (2017) 340-348. doi: 10.1038/pr.2017.53

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Teaching Responsibilities

• Co-Director, Pulmonary Module (School of Medicine)
• Co-Director, Renal Module (School of Medicine)
• Co-Director, Physiology Course (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences)