Profile
Dr. Boerman, PhD's research interests in vascular physiology brought her to MU for a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology in 2011, after which she joined the faculty as an assistant professor. Her research focuses on vascular dysfunction in health and disease, particularly in inflammatory bowel diseases. Dr. Boerman, PhD uses tools like advanced confocal microscopy, in vivo blood flow measurements, isolated artery preparations and molecular approaches to understand why arteries fail to function properly in diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Since establishing her laboratory, many activities led Dr. Boerman, PhD to join the Translational Biosciences leadership team. She has taught in several courses within the graduate and medical curricula and served as a mentor for both graduate and undergraduate student researchers. In conjunction with the School of Medicine Research Council, she created the Trainee Scholars Canvas group that serves as a resource hub for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in applying for NIH Fellowship Awards, a task that can be daunting for many trainees. Her participation in the MARC-IMSD undergraduate and PREP postbaccalaureate programs continues to prove that students from all backgrounds belong in scientific research.
Academic Information
Office
M470B Medical Sciences
Columbia, MO 65212
United States
Research Interests
- Regulation of blood flow
- Perivascular nerves
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Areas of Expertise
- Intact vessel studies
- Vascular calcium imaging
- Electrical nerve stimulation
- Intravital microscopy
- Fluorescence microscopy
Education & Training
Fellowship
2016, University of Missouri
Degrees
2011, PhD, Michigan State University
Awards & Honors
- 2019: Kaley Award Featured Topic Speaker, Experimental Biology
- 2016: American Physiological Society Caroline tum Suden Award
- 2016: Microcirculatory Society Pappenheimer Award
- 2013: American Physiological Society Caroline tum Suden Award
- 2011: Scholarship for the 10th International Symposium on Resistance Arteries
- 2011: Microcirculatory Society Pappenheimer Award
- 2009: Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine Young Investigator Award
- 2009: American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics Travel Award
- 2009: Scholarship for Keystone Symposium J8, Dissecting the Vasculature
- 2009: Microcirculatory Society Zweifach Award
- 2008: Microcirculatory Society Zweifach Award
- 2008: American Physiological Society Cardiovascular Research Award
- 2009: American Physiological Society Cardiovascular Research Award
- 2006: Michigan State University Veterinary Medicine Phi Zeta Best Poster Award
- 2001: Michigan Competitive Scholarship
- 2001: Michigan Merit Award Scholarship
Publications
Note: some manuscripts are published under Erika Boerman Westcott
- Jackson WF and Boerman EM. Voltage-gated Calcium Channel Activity Modulates Smooth Muscle Cell Calcium Waves in Hamster Cremaster Arterioles. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. Oct 1;315(4):H871-H878. 2018. PMID 29957015
- Jackson WF and Boerman EM. Regional Heterogeneity in the Mechanisms of Myogenic Tone in Hamster Arterioles. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. Sep 1;313(3):H667-H675. 2017. PMCID: PMC5625173
- Boerman EM, Everhart JE and Segal SS. Advanced age decreases local calcium signaling in endothelium of mouse mesenteric arteries in vivo. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 1;310(9):H1091-6. 2016. PMID: 26945073
- Boerman EM, Segal SS. Depressed perivascular sensory innervation of mouse mesenteric arteries with advanced age. J Physiol. Apr 15;594(8):2323-38. 2016. PMID: 26010764
- Socha MJ, Boerman EM, Behringer EJ, Shaw RL, Domeier TL, Segal SS. Protection of microvascular endothelium from Ca2+ influx induced by hydrogen peroxide with advanced age in mice. J Physiol. 593:2155-2169, 2015. PMID: 25689097.
- Sebastien Hayoz, Vanessa Bradley, Erika M Boerman, Zahra Nourian, Steven Segal, and William F. Jackson. Aging increases capacitance and spontaneous transient outward current amplitude of smooth muscle cells from murine superior epigastric arteries. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. Jun 1;306(11):H1512-24 2014. PMCID: PMC4042199
- Erik J. Behringer, Rebecca L. Shaw, Erika B. Westcott, Matthew J. Socha, and Steven S. Segal. Aging impairs electrical conduction along endothelium of resistance arteries through enhanced KCa channel activation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2013. PMID: 23723370
- Westcott, EB and Segal SS. Ageing alters perivascular nerve function of mouse mesenteric arteries in vivo. J Physiol. 1;591(Pt 5):1251-63. 2013. PMID 23247111
- Westcott EB, Goodwin EJ, Segal SS and Jackson WF. Function and expression of ryanodine receptors and inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate receptors in murine feed arteries and arterioles. J Physiol. Apr 15;590(Pt 8):1849-69. 2012. PMID 22331418.
Invited Reviews:
- Tykocki, NR, Boerman, EM and Jackson WF. Ion channels and regulation vascular tone in resistance arteries and arterioles. Compr Physiol. 2017. In Press
- Westcott, EB and Segal SS. Perivascular innervation: A multiplicity of roles in vasomotor control and myoendothelial signaling. Microcirculation, 2013. Apr;20(3):217-38. PMID 23289720.