Rate My Professor Carmen Dessauer

Carmen W. Dessauer is Professor and Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology at McGovern Medical School, UTHealth Houston, holding the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Chair. She also serves as Program Director for Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacology Scientists. Dessauer earned her BS and PhD in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University. She completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Alfred Gilman at UT Southwestern Medical Center, focusing on the biochemical and structural characterization of adenylyl cyclase. She joined the faculty at McGovern Medical School nearly 25 years ago, was appointed interim chair of her department in 2022, and became permanent chair effective March 2024.

Dessauer's research investigates the regulation of adenylyl cyclase, which synthesizes cyclic AMP (cAMP), a critical second messenger in cellular signaling. Her laboratory employs biochemical, molecular, cellular techniques including live-cell imaging, FRET, and FLIM to study spatial and temporal specificity of cAMP production via scaffolding proteins such as A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs). These studies address hormonal regulation in physiological and pathophysiological contexts, particularly cardiac arrhythmias and chronic pain. Key publications include 'Physiological roles of mammalian transmembrane adenylyl cyclase isoforms' (Physiological Reviews, 2022), 'International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. CI. Structures and Small Molecule Modulators of Mammalian Adenylyl Cyclases' (Pharmacological Reviews, 2017), 'POPDC1 Scaffolds a Complex of Adenylyl Cyclase 9 and the Potassium Channel TREK-1 in Heart' (EMBO Reports, 2022), and 'Insights into the Regulatory Properties of Human Adenylyl Cyclase Type 9' (Molecular Pharmacology, 2019). Her work has garnered over 10,900 citations with an h-index of 54. Honors include Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012), Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2022), and Paul E. Darlington Mentor Award (2022).