Rate My Professor Paul Hessian

Dr Paul Hessian is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, where he heads the Leukocyte and Inflammation Research Laboratory. His research focuses on the mechanisms of inflammation, particularly leukocyte biology and its role in rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis. Hessian has extensively studied the MRP family of calcium-binding proteins, including MRP-8 (S100A8) and MRP-14 (S100A9), abundant in neutrophils and monocytes. These proteins form a heterodimeric complex implicated in innate immune responses and chronic inflammation.

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.