Main ContentGertrude Arthur
Profile Summary
Gertrude is a PhD candidate in the Nutritional Sciences program at the University of Kentucky. She developed an interest in obesity and cardiovascular disease research when during her one year stay in a research institution, post-baccalaureate, she had the opportunity to join a research team working on adolescent obesity and health outcomes in adulthood. She aspires to use research in obesity metabolism, hypertension, and kidney function to develop therapeutic targets and interventions that will improve cardiovascular and kidney health.
Gertrude is currently working on her PhD project that seeks to understand how locally secreted human soluble prorenin receptor in the kidney affects kidney function and blood pressure regulation.
Education
PhD in Nutritional Sciences
Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences
College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Laboratory of Dr. Yiannikouris fbyian2@uky.edu
August 2020-to date
Masters in Nutritional Sciences
Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences
College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
January 2019-May 2020 (transferred to PhD)
BSc (Hons) Food Science and Technology
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Kumasi, Ghana
Second Class Upper Division
September 2013-June 2017
Research Experience
Graduate Research Assistant
August 2019-to date
Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky
Work involves:
- Science communication: Oral and poster presentations for conferences and symposiums to communicate current findings of my research and their significance.
- Critical thinking: Critiquing and presenting articles at journal clubs; designing study project; writing and reviewing manuscript for publication.
- Mice studies: Body weight; Body composition (Echo-MRI); Metabolic assessment for fluid homeostasis studies; Glucose, and insulin sensitivity studies (ipGTT, iTT); Glomerular filtration rate studies.
- Technical skills: Genotyping (DNA Isolation, PCR and Gel Electrophoresis); Protein Assays and Western Blot Assays; Radio telemetry (Implanting, Collecting, Managing and Analyzing Blood Pressure Data); Pharmacology (Drugs injections for mechanistic studies of blood pressure regulation); Tissue morphology; Immunofluorescence and Immunohistochemistry; Microscopy (Confocal, Fluorescence)
Research Assistant
September 2017-July 2018
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Nutrition Department
Role involved:
- Proximate composition and beta-carotene analysis on food samples
- Assistance with field work on research project examining obesity among adolescents in Ghana (Anthropometric measurement, interviewing participants)
- Assistance with trial work on palm weevil larvae as a nutritional supplement. Determining appropriate temperature for drying; incorporation into Ghanaian foods and palatability.
Research Communication
- Arthur G, Osborn JL, Yiannikouris (Pro) renin receptor in the kidney: function and significance. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2021 Apr 1;320(4): R377-83. PMID: 33470188
- Gatineau E, Arthur G, Poupeau A, Nichols K, Spear BT, Shelman NR, Graf GA, Temel RE, Yiannikouris The prorenin receptor and its soluble form contribute to lipid homeostasis. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2021 Mar 1;320(3): E609-18. 33459178). PMID: 33459178
- April 2022
Gertrude Arthur, Audrey Poupeau, Kellea Nichols, Jacqueline Leachman, Analia Loria, Jeffrey Osborn, Frederique Yiannikouris. Renal-derived human sPRR increases blood pressure in female but not in male mice. Experimental Biology 2022 - April 2022
Alexis Taylor, Gertrude Arthur, Kellea Nichols, Jacqueline Leachman, Analia Loria, Jeffrey Osborn, Frederique Yiannikouris. Renal-derived human sPRR increases plasma osmolality and aquaporin2 expression in male but not female mice. Experimental Biology 2022 - April 2022
Kellea Nichols, Gertrude Arthur, Terry Hinds, Frederique Yiannikouris. Adipose-derived human soluble (pro)renin receptor causes resistance to Losartan treatment in high-fat diet male and female Experimental Biology 2022 - April 2022
Kellea Nichols, Audrey Poupeau, Gertrude Arthur, Frederique Yiannikouris. Circulating Human sPRR Increased Blood Pressure in Female Mice Fed a Low-Fat Diet. Experimental Biology 2022 - October 2021
Gertrude Arthur, Audrey Poupeau, Kellea Nichols, Jacqueline Leachman, Analia Loria, Jeffrey Osborn, Frederique Yiannikouris. Renal-derived human sPRR increases blood pressure in female but not in male mice. APS New Trends in Sex and Gender Medicine. Virtual - September 2021
Gertrude Arthur, Audrey Poupeau, Kellea Nichols, Jacqueline Leachman, Analia Loria, Jeffrey Osborn, Frederique Collecting duct cells-derived human sPRR impairs the antihypertensive effects of losartan and upregulates ERK1/2 and AQP2 expression. Hypertension Council 2021. Virtual - September 2021
Audrey Poupeau, Gertrude Arthur, Kellea Nichols, Frederique Yiannikouris. Circulating human sPRR increased blood pressure in female mice fed a low-fat diet. Hypertension Council 2021. Virtual - September 2021
Kellea Nichols, Audrey Poupeau, Eva Gatineau, Gertrude Arthur, Frédérique Adipose-derived human soluble (pro)renin receptor mediates blood pressure regulation through an AT1R-dependent pathway in obese mice. Hypertension Council 2021. Virtual - April 2021
Gertrude Arthur, Gary L. Pierce, Amy K. Stroud, Lyndsey E, DuBose, Jordan Witmer, Seth Holwerda, Abbi Lane-Cordova, Nick Jensen, Rachel Luehrs, Frederique Yiannikouris. Sex differences in sPRR associated with physiological and cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy humans varying in age and obesity. Experimental Biology. Virtual - September 2020
Gertrude Arthur, Gary L. Pierce, Amy K. Stroud, Lyndsey E, DuBose, Jordan Witmer, Seth Holwerda, Abbi Lane-Cordova, Nick Jensen, Rachel Luehrs, Frederique Yiannikouris. Sex differences in sPRR associated with physiological and cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy humans varying in age and obesity. Hypertension Council 2020. Virtual - September 2020
Audrey Poupeau, Eva Gatineau, Gertrude Arthur, Wen SU, Ming Gong, Frederique Yiannikouris. Mouse recombinant sPRR-induced increase in blood pressure is sex-dependant in high fat-fed mice. Hypertension Council 2020. Virtual - January 2020
Kellea Nichols, Audrey Poupeau, Eva Gatineau, Gertrude Arthur, Ming Gong, Volkhard Lindner, Frédérique Yiannikouris. Sex-specific difference in adipose tissue and blood pressure in a new mouse model expressing human soluble prorenin receptor in adipocytes. Experimental Biology. - September 2019
Arthur Gertrude, Gatineau Eva, Temel Ryan, Graf Gregory, Yiannikouris The deletion of the prorenin receptor (PRR) in liver induces a counter regulatory increase of adipose sPRR and adipose remodeling. Cardiovascular Research Day. SAHA Cardiovascular Research Center. Lexington, KY, USA.
Awards and Recognition
September 2022
American Heart Association (AHA) Kidney Council New Investigator Travel Award
May 2022
Student of the Year, Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences. University of Kentucky.
April 2022
American Physiological Society (APS) Renal Research Recognition Award
April 2022
APS Martin Frank Diversity Travel Award
October 2021
APS New Trends in Sex and Gender Medicine Diversity Scholarship Award
September 2021
AFHRE Support of Underrepresented Minorities by American Heart Association (AHA)
August 2019
University of Kentucky International Center Scholarship.
May 2018
Certificate of Recognition for Community Service. Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana.
Grants/Fellowships
August 2021 – August 2022
Planning Global Gardens Grant.
I together with other students in my department as well faculty across the university received a 1-year sustainability challenge grant award to plan global garden(s) across the University of Kentucky Campus that will represent the diverse countries/cultures present at the university.
University Activities and Student Involvement
August 2022 – to date
Treasurer
Nutritional Sciences and Pharmacology Students Association (NSPS)
January 2021-to date
Graduate Student Rep.
Trainees in Research Advisory Committee, College of Medicine
August 2020-to date
Graduate Student Rep.
Women in Science (WIMS). College of Medicine
August 2020-May 2022
Treasurer
Black Graduate and Professional Students Association (BGPSA)
August 2020-August 2021
Member
Institutional Research Committee (IRC), Graduate Student Congress. University of Kentucky
January 2020-February 2022
Student Organizing Team Member,
Healthy Hearts for Women Symposium
Volunteering and Community Service
February 2020
Volunteer Judge, 36th Annual Kentucky American Water District Science Fair. Frederick Douglass High School. Lexington, KY
December 2019
Volunteering at Ronald McDonald House with Biomedical Graduate Student Organization, University of Kentucky. Lexington, KY
May 2018
Project committee member - NSPA Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research
Organized pep talks for school children at a a village (Obom) in Ghana to motivate them into science studies. Donation of science and mathematics textbooks to school children at the village to aid in their studies.