Rate My Professor Jeff Erickson

Associate Professor Jeff Erickson serves in the Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago. He earned his BS and PhD from Florida State University, completing his doctorate in 2006. Erickson's research investigates the molecular mechanisms that underlie structural heart disease and heart failure, particularly in the context of aging and diabetes. He has developed specialized tools including FRET-based biosensors to measure kinase activity and localization in living cells, custom antibodies to assess biochemical modifications of proteins, and a variety of animal models with enhanced or reduced susceptibility to cardiac pathology. These innovations aim to advance understanding of cardiac signaling pathways for potential clinical therapies targeting heart disease. His laboratory, the Erickson Lab, focuses on post-translational modifications such as S-nitrosylation and O-GlcNAcylation in cardiac myocytes, nitric oxide signaling, calcium handling, and arrhythmogenic mechanisms.

At the University of Otago, Erickson progressed from Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor and is affiliated with HeartOtago. He holds the position of Secretary for the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) Australasian Section. His contributions have earned recognition including the Emerging Teacher Award from the School of Biomedical Sciences in 2019 and co-authorship on the Research Paper of the Year in 2024. Notable publications include 'Nitric Oxide Modulates Ca2+ Leak and Arrhythmias via S-Nitrosylation of CaMKII' (Circulation Research, 2023), 'Direct regulation of the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) by O-GlcNAcylation' (2023), 'Ghrelin protects against cell death in myocardial ischaemia: Emerging role of microRNA' (Experimental Physiology, 2026), 'Central regulation of the heart in type 2 diabetes mellitus' (Journal of Molecular & Cellular Cardiology, 2026), and 'S-nitrosylation of cardiac myocyte proteins may underlie sex differences in cardiac disease' (Frontiers in Physiology, 2025). Erickson's scholarly impact is evidenced by over 3,900 citations and an h-index of 23 on Google Scholar.