Mary Woo, PhD, RN, FAAN

About

"Heart failure is the number one hospital discharge diagnosis for people older than age 65. It costs Medicare alone more than $33 billion a year. Yet despite all the advances in treatment that have emerged in the last 10 to 15 years, the high rates of mortality and morbidity in heart failure haven’t changed. And that situation isn’t going to improve until clinical practice starts to address the compounding factors that are contributing to that morbidity and mortality — namely, the considerable amount of brain damage we’re seeing in these patients."

Dr. Woo’s research has focused on investigations into brain-heart interactions, particularly in advanced heart failure patients. She was the first to identify specific sites of brain injury in heart failure and is currently evaluating possible causes and treatments for this condition. She has been continuously funded for her research by the National Institutes of Health since 1997. Dr. Woo has been recognized for her contributions to research by such national organizations as the National Institute for Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. She is currently a professor in the UCLA School of Nursing and provides research mentorship to undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral fellows, and assistant professors in nursing, physiology, neurobiology, and medicine both at UCLA and academic organizations around the world. Areas of Scholarly Expertise and Interest Heart failure, sudden death, brain-heart interactions, sleep apnea, polysomnography, sleep studies.

Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise

Research: Heart rate variability and sudden death; autonomic-cardiac interactions; heart failure; brain-heart interactions in sudden death; sleep; brain MRI

Clinical: Critical Care

Professional Activities

2006-2010 American Heart Association — Council on Cardiovascular Nursing — co-editor/editor of council web site; recruitment committee member 2008-2012 NIH — study section member for National Institute for Nursing Research 2012-2016 NIH/NHLBI grant: 1R01 HL113251: Brain Axonal Injury in Obstructive Sleep Apnea (co-PI) 2012-2016 NIH/NINR grant — 1R01 NR013625: Central Autonomic Nervous System Regulation in Heart Failure (PI) 2013-2017 NIH/NINR grant — 1R0113625: Memory and Brain Structure in Adolescents with Single Ventricle Heart Disease (co-PI) 2014-2018 NIH/NINR grant — 1R01 NR014669: Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction and Brain Injury in Heart Failure (PI) 2015-2019 NIH/NINR grant — 1R01 NR015038: Blood-Brain Barrier Deficits and Brain Injury in Obstructive Sleep Apnea (co-PI)

Education

University of California, Davis, BS, 1976, Genetics

Pasadena City College, Pasadena, AA, 1980, Nursing

Mount St. Mary's College, BS, 1985, Nursing

University of California, Los Angeles, MN, 1988, Nursing

University of California, Los Angeles, DNSc, 1992, Nursing

Honors and Awards

1997 Fellow of the American Heart Association — Council on Cardiovascular Nursing 2001 Fellow of the American Association of Nursing 2009 Awarded "Pillar of Cardiovascular Nursing Research" by the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing of the American Heart Association 2013 NINR Director's Leadership Award

Publications

Palomares JA, Tummala S, Wang DJ, Park B, Woo MA, Kang DW, Lawrence KS, Harper RM, Kumar R. Water Exchange across the Blood-Brain Barrier in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: An MRI Diffusion-Weighted Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling Study. J Neuroimaging. 2015 Nov;25(6):900-5.

Tummala S, Palomares J, Kang DW, Park B, Woo MA, Harper RM, Kumar R. Global and Regional Brain Non-Gaussian Diffusion Changes in Newly Diagnosed Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Sleep. 2015 Aug 12. pii: sp-00202-15. [Epub ahead of print].

Kumar R, Yadav SK, Palomares JA, Park B, Joshi SH, Ogren JA, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Harper RM, Woo MA. Reduced regional brain cortical thickness in patients with heart failure. PLoS One. 2015 May 11;10(5):e0126595. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126595.

Woo MA, Ogren JA, Abouzeid CM, Macey PM, Sairafian KG, Saharan PS, Thompson PM, Fonarow GC, Hamilton MA, Harper RM, Kumar R. Regional hippocampal damage in heart failure. Eur J Heart Fail. 2015 May;17(5):494-500.

Woo MA, Palomares JA, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Harper RM, Kumar R. Global and regional brain mean diffusivity changes in patients with heart failure. J Neurosci Res. 2015 Apr;93(4):678-85.

Woo MA, Yadav SK, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Harper RM, Kumar R. Brain metabolites in autonomic regulatory insular sites in heart failure. J Neurol Sci. 2014 Nov 15;346(1-2):271-5.

Macey PM, Kumar R, Ogren JA, Woo MA, Harper RM. Global brain blood-oxygen level responses to autonomic challenges in obstructive sleep apnea. PLoS One. 2014 Aug 28;9(8):e105261. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105261.

Kumar R, Pham TT, Macey PM, Woo MA, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Abnormal myelin and axonal integrity in recently diagnosed patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep. 2014 Apr 1;37(4):723-32.

Yadav SK, Kumar R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Insular cortex metabolite changes in obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep. 2014 May 1;37(5):951-8.

Harper RM, Kumar R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Ogren JA. Affective brain areas and sleep-disordered breathing. Prog Brain Res. 2014;209:275-93.

Kumar R, Farahvar S, Ogren JA, Macey PM, Thompson PM, Woo MA, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Brain putamen volume changes in newly-diagnosed patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Neuroimage Clin. 2014 Jan 31;4:383-91.

Kumar R, Woo MS, Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM. (2012). Progressive gray matter changes in patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Pediatric Research, 71, 701-6.

Macey PM, Wu P, Kumar R, Ogren JA, Richardson HL, Woo MA, Harper RM.(2012).Differential responses of the insular cortex gyri to autonomic challenges.Autonomic Neuroscience: basic & clinical, 168, 72-81.

Kumar R, Delshad S, Woo MA, Macey PM, Harper RM. (2012). Age-related regional brain T2-relaxation changes in healthy adults. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 35, 300-308.

Kumar R, Nguyen HD, Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM.(2012).Regional brain axial and radial diffusivity changes during development. Journal of Neuroscience, 90, 346-55.

Kumar, R., Delshad, S., Macey, P.M., Woo, M.A., Harper, R.M. Development of T2-relaxation values in regional brain sites during adolescence. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (In Press 2010).

Ogren JA, Macey PM, Kumar R, Woo MA, Harper RM. Central autonomic regulation in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Neuroscience 2010; 167(4): 1249-1256.

Kumar R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM. Rostral brain axonal injury in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. J Neurosci Res 2010; (March Epub ahead of print).

Kumar R, Ahdout R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Avedissian C, Thompson PM, Harper RM. Reduced caudate nuclei volumes in patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Neuroscience 2009; 163(4): 1373-1379.

Kumar R, Nguyen HD, Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM. Dilated basilar arteries in patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Neurosci Letters 2009; doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.10.024.

Macey PM, Richard CA, Kumar R, Woo MA, Ogren JA, Avedissian C, Thompson PM, Harper RM. Hippocampal volume reduction in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. PLOS ONE 2009; 4: e436. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006436.

Kumar R, Ahdour R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Avedissian C, Thompson PM, Harper RM. Reduced caudate nuclei volumes in patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Neuroscience 2009; 163: 1373-1379.

Kumar R, Lee K, Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM. Mammillary body and fornix injury in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Pediatr Res 2009; 66(4): 429-434.

Kumar R, Macey PM, Woo MA, Alger JR, Harper RM. Diffusion tensor imaging demonstrates brainstem and cerebellar abnormalities in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Pediatr Res 2008; 64: 275-80.

Kumar R, Woo MA, Birrer BVX, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Hamilton MA, Harper RM. Mammillary bodies and fornix fibers are injured in heart failure. Neurobiol Disease 2009; 33: 236-242.

Woo MA, Kumar R, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Harper RM. Brain injury in autonomic, emotional, and cognitive regulatory areas in patients with heart failure. J Cardiac Failure 2009; 15: 214-223.

Kumar R, Macey PM, Cross RL, Woo MA, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Neural alterations associated with anxiety symptoms in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Depression and Anxiety 2009; 26: 480-491.

Kumar R, Birrer BV, Macey PM, Woo MA, Gupta RK, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Reduced mammillary body volume in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Neurosci Lett 2008; 438: 330-334.

Macey PM, Kumar R, Woo MA, Valladares EM, Yan-Go FL, Harper RM. Brain structural changes in obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep 2008; 31: 967-977.

Serber SL, Kumar R, Woo MA, Macey PM, Fonarow GC, Harper RM. Cognitive test performance and brain pathology. Nurs Res 2008; 57: 75-83.

Macey PM, Woo MA, Harper RM. Hyperoxic brain effects are normalized by addition of CO2. PLOS Medicine 2007; 4: 1-8.

Woo MA, Macey PM, Keens PT, Kumar R, Fonarow GC, Hamilton MA, Harper RM. Aberrant central nervous system responses to the Valsalva maneuver in heart failure. Congestive Heart Failure 2007; 13: 29-35.