Rate My Professor Petra Rocic

Petra Rocic, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She received her PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001, where her dissertation examined the regulation of angiotensin II-induced vascular smooth muscle cell protein synthesis by multiple signaling cascades under the advisement of Pamela A. Lucchesi. She earned a BA in Biology from Oberlin College in 1997. Dr. Rocic's professional trajectory includes postdoctoral research fellowships at Emory University Division of Cardiology (2001-2003, advisor Kathy K. Griendling) and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Department of Physiology (2003-2005, advisor William M. Chilian), followed by faculty appointments as Instructor at LSUHSC (2005-2007), Assistant Professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University (2007-2008) and University of South Alabama Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2008-2013), Associate Professor at New York Medical College Department of Pharmacology (2013-2020), and her current position at SHSU since May 2020.

Dr. Rocic's research focuses on cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology, with emphasis on the regulation of coronary collateral growth in the metabolic syndrome. She has served as principal investigator on several NIH NHLBI R01 grants, including "Regulation of Coronary Collateral Growth in the Metabolic Syndrome" (2008-2015), "Mechanistic Basis of miR-145-mediated Restoration of Coronary Collateral Growth" (2015-2020), and diversity supplements. Selected publications include "20-HETE in the regulation of vascular and cardiac function" (Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2018), "MicroRNA-145 restores contractile vascular smooth muscle phenotype and coronary collateral growth in the metabolic syndrome" (Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2013), "Elevated 20-HETE impairs coronary collateral growth in metabolic syndrome via endothelial dysfunction" (American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2017), and "The mechanistic basis for the disparate effects of angiotensin II on coronary collateral growth" (Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2008). With over 10 years of experience in medical education, she has directed and lectured in courses on scientific foundations, cardiovascular pharmacology, endocrine pharmacology, and medical biochemistry for medical and graduate students. Dr. Rocic has mentored numerous MD/PhD, PhD, MS, and undergraduate students to degree completion. She received the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship (1995) and Red Sash Teaching Awards (2012, 2013), served on editorial boards for Circulation Research, American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology, and Microcirculation, and participated in NIH and AHA grant review panels. She has delivered invited presentations at conferences such as the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions and World Congress for Microcirculation.