Rate My Professor Paul Hessian

Hessian's academic career at the University of Otago includes early work in the Department of Physiology on topics such as hepatic stellate cell-hepatocyte interactions in liver regeneration and alterations in myofilament calcium sensitivity. More recent contributions from his laboratory address cytokine dysregulation in rheumatoid arthritis, including the pro-inflammatory effects of interleukin-27, associations between plasma interleukin-23, circulating ex-Th17 cells, and radiographic joint damage, and differential gene expression facilitating methotrexate action in responders versus non-responders. Key publications include "MRP-8 and MRP-14, two abundant Ca2+-binding proteins of neutrophils and monocytes" (Journal of Leukocyte Biology, 1993), "The heterodimeric complex of MRP-8 (S100A8) and MRP-14 (S100A9): Cloning, genetic mapping, and expression analysis of MRP1, a novel member of the MRP family" (European Journal of Biochemistry, 2001), "The contribution from interleukin-27 towards rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis" (Genes & Immunity, 2020), and "Plasma interleukin-23 and circulating IL-17A+IFNγ+ ex-Th17 cells associate with radiographic damage in early rheumatoid arthritis" (Arthritis Research & Therapy, 2022). With 56 publications cited over 2,240 times, his research has substantially impacted studies on inflammatory diseases. Hessian supervises postgraduate research on inflammation in arthritis and cancer.