Dr. Vitiello is Director of the Laboratory Research for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. His research uses molecular and cellular approaches to determine the molecular influence of environmental toxins, oxidative stress, and antioxidant enzymes on tissue development, homeostasis, and disease pathogenesis. He uses experimental models of oxidative diseases including bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and Friedreich’s Ataxia to discover redox-dependent signaling mechanisms underlying pathogenesis.
MyNCBI Publications
Fun Fact: "I was on the New York City Championship Math Team in middle school."
Academic Section(s):
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Education:
PhD - University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester NY
Postdoctoral Fellowship - University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Rochester NY
Clinical/Research Interests:
The Vitiello laboratory works to identify and define the molecular interface between environmental toxins and biological systems. Research is targeted at understanding redox-dependent regulation of molecular networks regulating cellular programming during tissue development and injury/repair processes. Dr. Vitiello is specifically researching if thioredoxin antioxidants serve as molecular sensors of altered atmospheric oxygen tension in lung epithelial cells during development and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a form of chronic lung disease in the preterm lung. He is also testing how mitochondrial antioxidants regulate redox signaling and mitochondrial function during pathogenesis of Friedreich’s Ataxia, a degenerative neuromuscular disease primarily diagnosed in adolescence. Using a variety of genetic, molecular, proteomic, and cellular approaches, the laboratory hopes to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to predict, ameliorate, and prevent the life-long burden of oxidative diseases.
Select Honors & Accomplishments:
2020 - Outstanding Reviewer Award, Experimental Biology and Medicine
2019 - Distinguished Researcher Award, USD SSOM Department of Pediatrics
2013-2014 - T. Denny Sanford Pediatric Collaborative Research Award, Sanford Health
2009 - Best Poster Presentation, European Respiratory Society Meeting
2008-2010 - Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program, NIH
2008 - Harold Hodge Award, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
2006 - Bristol-Myers Squibb Travel Award, University of Rochester School of Medicine
2006 - William F. Neuman Award, University of Rochester School of Medicine
2006 - Gilbert B. Forbes Prize in Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine
Select Publications:
- Booze ML, Hansen J, and Vitiello PF. A novel mouse model for the identification of thioredoxin-1 protein interactions. Free Rad Biol Med v99:533-43, 2016. PMID 27639450. PMC5107173.
- Baack ML, Forred BJ, Jensen DN, Khan M, Larsen T, Wachal AL, and Vitiello PF. Consequences of a maternal high fat diet and late gestation diabetes on the developing rat lung. PLOS One v11:e0160818, 2016. PMID 27518105. PMC4982689.
- Forred BJ, Daugaard DR, Titus BK, Wood RR, Floen MJ, Booze ML, and Vitiello PF. Detoxification of mitochondrial oxidants and apoptotic signaling are facilitated by thioredoxin-2 and peroxiredoxin-3 during hyperoxic injury. PLOS One v12:e0168777, 2017. PMID 28045936. PMC5207683.