Irina V. Smirnova

Assistant Professor
Director of PhD in Rehabilitation Science program

Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
University of Kansas Medical Center
Mailstop 2002
3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160

Telephone: (913) 588-0248
Fax: (913) 588-5677
E-mail: ismirnova@kumc.edu

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., Protein Chemistry, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Kyyiv, Ukraine, 1990.
  • M.S. (with Honors), Biochemistry, Lviv State University, Lviv, Ukraine, 1986.

ACADEMIC / CLINICAL APPOINTMENTS and TRAINING

  • University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
    • Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, 2004 - present.
    • Research Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, 2000 - 2004.
    • Research Associate, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1997 - 2000.
  • Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
    • Associate Investigator, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, 1996 - 1997.
    • Research Associate, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, 1995 - 1996.
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, 1992 - 1995.

TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES

  • PTRS 712 - Pathophysiology and the PT Diagnosis
  • PTRS 862 - Pathobiology of Human Function I

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Cellular and molecular adaptations of the heart to conditions of diabetes; benefits of physical exercise for the diabetic heart disease

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  • Searls Y, Smirnova IV, Fegley BR, Stehno-Bittel L: Exercise attenuates diabetes-induced ultrastructural changes in rat cardiac tissue. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., 2004, 36: 1863-1870.
  • Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Malone T, Smirnova IV: Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging of rat spinal cord at 9.4 T. Magn. Reson. Imaging, 2005, 23:601-605.
  • Loganathan R, Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Smirnova IV: Characterization of alterations in diabetic myocardial tissue using high resolution MRI. Int. J. Cardiovasc. Imaging, 2006, 22: 81–90.
  • Loganathan R, Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Alenezy MD, Smirnova IV: Cardiac dysfunction in the diabetic rat: quantitative evaluation using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Cardiovasc Diabetology, 2006 5:7 (4 April 2006).
  • Loganathan R, Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Alenezy MD, Smirnova IV: Cardiac dysfunction in the diabetic rat: quantitative evaluation using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Cardiovasc Diabetology, 2006 5:7 (4 April 2006).
  • Smirnova IV, Kibiryeva N, Vidoni E, Buñag RD, Stehno-Bittel L: Abnormal EKG stress test in rats with type 1 diabetes is deterred with low-Intensity exercise programme. Acta Diabetologica, 2006 43(3): 66-74.
  • Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Alrefae T, He Y-Y, Smirnova IV, Aldur M, Festoff BW: Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging of spinal cord injury in mouse: changes in signal patterns associated with the inflammatory response. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2007;25(5):657-64.
  • Al-Jarrah M, Pothakos K, Novikova L, Smirnova IV, Kurz MJ, Stehno-Bittel L, Lau Y-S: “Endurance exercise promotes cardiorespiratory rehabilitation without neuronrestoration in the chronic mouse model of Parkinsonism with severe neurondegeneration ”, Neuroscience,2007;149(1):28-37.
  • Alrefae T, Smirnova IV, Cook LT, Bilgen M: A model-based time-reversal of left ventricular motion improves cardiac motion analysis using tagged MRI data, BioMedical Engineering OnLine, 2008; 7:15 (19 May 2008).

CURRENT GRANTS

  • Age-dependent changes in the cardiac plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (Co-Investigator, Zaidi - Principal Investigator), General Research Development Grant, KCALSI, 01/01/07 - 12/31/08. $22,727 direct cost.

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  • Can a drug replace exercise to improve the diabetic heart? (Principal Investigator) Scientist Development Grant, American Heart Association, National Program, 01/01/04-12/31/08. $236,364 direct cost, $260,000 total cost.

 

 

RECENT GRANTS

     

  • Proteomic approach to study diabetic heart protein posttranslational modification (Principal Investigator), Pilot Project Grant, NIH COBRE in Protein Structure and Function, NCRR #P20 RR-17708, 05/01/05-06/30/07. $101,650 direct cost, $148,674 total cost.

 

  • Exercise Induced Benefits on Cardiac Performance and Protein Kinase C beta II in Type 1 Diabetes (Sponsor, Loganathan - Principal Investigator) Predoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association, Heartland Affiliate, 01/01/06-12/31/07. $50,000 direct cost, $50,000 total cost.
  • ICAM-1 Targeted Nanoparticles for In Vivo, VEGF-Induced Angiogenesis (Smirnova IV - Co-Investigator, Berkland - Principal Investigator) Research Grant, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 01/01/06-12/31/06. $100,000 direct cost, $110,000 total cost.

 

  • Proposal to train intern from the former Soviet Union (Principal Investigator). Training grant, US Department of Commerce, SABIT, 09/01/04-08/31/05. $13,700 direct cost, $13,700 total cost.

 

RECENT PROFESSIONAL & SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS

Invited speaker

  • “Molecular mechanisms underlying the arrest of diabetic cardiomyopathy -Studies in rat models of type 1 diabetes” (Scientific Forum XV- International Congress of Cardiovascular Sciences, December 8-10, 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

 

  • “Metabolic Syndrome: Evidence, Education and Effective Intervention Strategies” by Patricia Kluding, Yvonne Searls, Irina V. Smirnova, and Lisa Stehno-Bittel, opening multisection presentation (Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association, February 1-5, 2006, San Diego, CA)

 

  • “Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” by Patricia Kluding, Yvonne Searls, Irina V. Smirnova, and Lisa Stehno-Bittel (Kansas Physical Therapy Association Fall Conference, October 6-8, 2006, Topeka, KS)

 

  • “Recruitment and Retention of International PhD Students” by Lisa Stehno-Bittel and Irina V. Smirnova (Annual North American Consortium of Nursing and Allied Health [NACNAH] Conference: Strategic Summit on Academic Internationalization for the Health Professions, November 9-10, 2006, Kansas City, KS)

Poster presentations

·         Stehno-Bittel L, Loganathan R, Patel P, Smirnova IV: Effects of moderate aerobic exercise on left ventricular hemodynamics in obese diabetic rats (presented at the 9th Annual Obesity Conference, Kansas City, MO, September 13-14, 2007).

·         Smirnova IV,Loganathan R: Comparison of the effects of exercise training with pharmacological PKC beta inhibition in a rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy (presented at the American Heart Association Research Symposium, Orlando, FL, November 2-3, 2007).

·         Smirnova IV, Loganathan R, Stehno-Bittel L, Bilgen M: Detection of abnormalities in the diabetic heart using MRI (XVIII World Congress of the International Society for Heart Research, Brisbane, Australia, August 7 – 11, 2004).

·         Loganathan R, Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Zhero S, Alenezy M, Smirnova IV: Exercise training improves cardiac function in diabetic rats: high field magnetic resonance imaging assessment (Combined Sessions Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, February 1-5, 2006).

·         Loganathan R, Bilgen M, Al-Hafez B, Zhero S, Alenezy M, Smirnova IV: Exercise training improves cardiac function in diabetic rats: noninvasive assessment using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (3rd Annual Symposium of the American Heart Association Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences - Translation of Basic Insights into Clinical Practice, Keystone Conference Center, Keystone, CO, July 31 - August 3, 2006).

·         Bilgen M, Gauch J, Loganathan R, Alenezy MD, Popel E, Alrefae T, Smirnova IV:  Gaining new insights on the relationship between structure, property and function in diabetic heart using elastography imaging  (5th International Conference on the Ultrasonic Measurement and Imaging of Tissue Elasticity, Snowbird, UT, October 8-11, 2006).

·         Smirnova IV, Novikova L, Gogichaeva NV, Alterman MA: Increased acetylation of cardiac proteins in diabetes (accepted for presentation at the 7th European Symposium of The Protein Society, “From Proteins to Proteome”, Stockholm-Uppsala, Sweden, May 12-16, 2007).

 

RECENT HONORS & AWARDS

May 2003    Regents’ Faculty Award

May 2004    University of Kansas Medical Center Faculty Travel Award to attend and present a poster at the XVIII World Congress of the International Society for Heart Research, August 7–11, 2004, Brisbane, Australia

Mar 2007    Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) Faculty Scholar award

Nov 2007    Faculty Investigator Research Award

PROFESSIONAL & SCIENTIFIC MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Diabetes Association, member
  • American Heart Association, member