Personal Statement

From Sports to Sports Science (2004-2009)

My first foray into science was as a collegiate hammer thrower at UCSD in 2006, following an animated discussion with my teammates regarding the risk and benefit of performance supplements. I reached out to Dr. Russell Richardson to inquire about this, and this curiosity evolved into an opportunity for hands-on research. In 2009, I was awarded the Cornelius Hopper Diversity Award Supplement from the Tobacco-Related Diseases Research Project, which funded my undergraduate research. We examined the effect of oral antioxidants on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation1. Also, we found evidence that pre-menopausal women exhibit protection of endothelial function following a high-fat meal2. I also collaborated with Dr. Mohammed Malek on two studies examining quadriceps electromyography and mechanomyography with cycling and knee-extensor exercise3,4.

Master’s Work at San Diego State University (2009-2011)

Around this time, I met the late Dr. Paul J. Friedman as a fellow bassist in the La Jolla Symphony Chorus, who hired me as a technician to examine bronchial wall thickening in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Paul encouraged me to further my research training by pursuing a Masters at San Diego State, where I earned four scholarships and two travel grants to present at my first scientific conference. Dr. Friedman introduced me to Dr. Susan Hopkins at the Pulmonary Imaging Laboratory (PIL), who would become my Master’s thesis adviser (and later, my Postdoctoral mentor). Together, we studied pulmonary gas exchange during exercise in endurance-trained athletes using functional MRI. We found that the gas exchange perturbation post-exercise was due to increased heterogeneity of pulmonary blood flow and not due to changes to specific ventilation5. In running this study, I acquired skills in human invasive data collection combined with non-invasive MRI, which precipitated my interest in human pulmonary vascular physiology.

Doctoral Work at The University of Alberta (2011-2017)

Based on the outstanding reputation of Canadian universities, I moved to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta Canada to pursue my doctorate, where I was awarded a scholarship, graduate assistantship, and teaching assistantship. Under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Stickland, I completed three human clinical studies examining the pulmonary vasculature during exercise in health and disease. My first study highlighted the importance of endogenous dopamine on cardiopulmonary exercise performance. Endogenous plasma dopamine increases during exercise but also reduces pulmonary gas exchange efficiency. Building on my invasive study experience, we administered a dopamine-2 receptor blockade during cycling exercise in healthy humans, finding an improvement in pulmonary gas exchange, but reduced exercise performance6. Then, I adapted the multiple-FIO2 diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) method for use during exercise. My next study used this technique to find evidence that endurance-trained athletes may have an enhanced pulmonary diffusing membrane7, which generated significant discussion in the scientific community on the ability to exercise-train the lungs8,9. In 2014, I received the Caroline Tum Suden/Frances Hellebrandt Award from the American Physiological Society for this work. We subsequently secured two grants from the Canadian Respiratory Research Network and University Hospital Foundation to apply the multiple-FIO2 DLCO technique in mild COPD to determine pulmonary vascular responses during exercise. I was awarded a studentship from The Lung Association of Alberta to support my research. We discovered that despite relatively mild airflow impairment, individuals with mild COPD exhibit some pulmonary vascular dysfunction that affects their ability to exchange gas, which may contribute to exertional dyspnea. In addition to the human clinical research, I also coordinated a large comparative physiology study examining precapillary gas exchange and intrapulmonary shunt recruitment, which brought Drs. Hopkins and Peter Wagner to Edmonton as collaborators. Together, these studies allowed me to appreciate the value of both human and animal physiology to a greater understanding and reach of clinical research.

Postdoctoral Fellowship at UCSD School of Medicine (Present)

I returned to UCSD for my Postdoctoral Fellowship because I was confident in the unique and excellent training environment which has thus far contributed to my success. Currently, I have published 12 peer-reviewed manuscripts (4 first author) in the field of cardiopulmonary exercise physiology. My history of clinically-oriented research in humans and animals has prepared me for my postdoctoral fellowship. My success in research funding and scholarships is a result of effective mentorship in my writing. I continue to contribute to clinical science by combining my previous experience in MRI data collection with pulmonary vascular physiology expertise to complete my short-term research objective to determine the effect of aging on the hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) in humans. This work has implications for future studies in clinical populations who may retain HPV maladaptively and could lead to the development of non-invasive risk screening.

Long-term Goals

My long-term academic objective is to attain a tenure-track professorship in which I will be able to pursue clinical research in vascular pulmonary physiology. The additional experience and skills I will gain from my current postdoctoral fellowship at UCSD support my goal of becoming an independent investigator. My professional aim is to continue mentor junior scientists who aspire to be involved in research projects that will contribute to the field of clinical cardiopulmonary physiology, which allows me to give back to the growing community of scientists who consistently renew my commitment to a career in academic research.

References

  1. Harris RA, Nishiyama SK, Wray DW, Tedjasaputra V, Bailey DM, Richardson RS. The effect of oral antioxidants on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation following 5 and 10 min of ischemia. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2009;107:445–453.
  2. Harris RA, Tedjasaputra V, Zhao J, Richardson RS. Premenopausal women exhibit an inherent protection of endothelial function following a high-fat meal. Reprod Sci. 2012;19:221–228.
  3. Malek MH, Coburn JW, Tedjasaputra V. Comparison of electromyographic responses for the superficial quadriceps muscles: cycle versus knee-extensor ergometry. Muscle Nerve. 2009;39:810–818.
  4. Malek MH, Coburn JW, Tedjasaputra V. Comparison of mechanomyographic amplitude and mean power frequency for the rectus femoris muscle: cycle versus knee-extensor ergometry. J Neurosci Methods. 2009;181:89–94.
  5. Tedjasaputra V, Sá RC, Arai TJ, Holverda S, Theilmann RJ, Chen WT, Wagner PD, Davis CK, Kim Prisk G, Hopkins SR. The heterogeneity of regional specific ventilation is unchanged following heavy exercise in athletes. J Appl Physiol. 2013;115:126–135.
  6. Tedjasaputra V, Bryan TL, van Diepen S, Moore LE, Bouwsema MM, Welsh RC, Petersen SR, Stickland MK. Dopamine receptor blockade improves pulmonary gas exchange but decreases exercise performance in healthy humans. J Physiol. 2015;593:3147–3157.
  7. Tedjasaputra V, Bouwsema MM, Stickland MK. Effect of aerobic fitness on capillary blood volume and diffusing membrane capacity responses to exercise. 2016;594:4359–4370.
  8. Olfert IM. Exercise and the lungs: nature or nurture? J Physiol. 2016;594:5037–5038.
  9. Groves L, Brade S, Wright SP. Pushing it to the limit: enhanced diffusing membrane capacity facilitates greater pulmonary diffusing capacity in athletes during exercise. 2016;594:7171–7172.