Dr. Rehan has been a faculty member of the Division of Neonatology since 2000. He serves as the director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and is on several institutional committees including the Neonatal Steering Committee, Pediatric Critical Care Committee and the Research Committee at the Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He is also the Director of the combined Harbor-UCLA/CHOC Neonatal Fellowship program.

Rehan serves as a mentor and supervisor for neonatal fellows, undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. His research interests include neonatal lung injury/repair with a special emphasis on lung injury repair following exposure to insults such as hyperoxia, infection, and nicotine. These studies have provided novel insights to the pathogenesis of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) and have created innovative strategies to prevent BPD, which still results in significant morbidity and mortality for the premature infant.

In addition, he co-authored a book entitled “Evolutionary Biology, Cell-Cell Communication and Complex Disease”(JS Torday and VK Rehan, Wiley-Blackwell, January 24, 2012). The volume is a ‘primer’ for mechanistic thinking in evolution and medicine. It is intended for both established investigators and those in training.

American Board of Pediatrics

M.D., University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, India

Residency in Neonatology, Health Sciences Center, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Publications

1. Liu J, Sakurai R, O’Roark EM, Kenyon NJ, Torday JS, Rehan VK. PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone prevents perinatal nicotine exposure-induced asthma in rat offspring. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2011 May;300(5):L710-7. Epub 2011 Feb 25. PMID: 21355041

2. Effros RM, Casaburi R, Porszasz J, Rehan VK. Assessment of exhaled breath condensate pH. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 Apr 1;183(7):952; author reply 952-3. Erratum in: Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012 Feb 1;185(3):344. Rehan, Virender K [added]. PMID: 21471080

3. Rehan VK, Sakurai R, Torday JS. Thirdhand smoke: a new dimension to the effects of cigarette smoke on the developing lung. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2011 Jul;301(1):L1-8. Epub 2011 Apr 8. PMID: 21478255

4. Torday JS, Rehan VK. A cell-molecular approach predicts vertebrate evolution. Mol Biol Evol. 2011 Nov;28(11):2973-81. Epub 2011 May 18. PMID: 21593047

5. Rehan VK, Fong J, Lee R, Sakurai R, Wang ZM, Dahl MJ, Lane RH, Albertine KH, Torday JS. Mechanism of reduced lung injury by high-frequency nasal ventilation in a preterm lamb model of neonatal chronic lung disease. Pediatr Res. 2011 Nov;70(5):462-6. PMID: 21814155

6. Sakurai R, Li Y, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Curcumin augments lung maturation, preventing neonatal lung injury by inhibiting TGF-β signaling. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2011 Nov;301(5):L721-30. Epub 2011 Aug 5. PMID: 21821729

7. Rehan VK, Sakurai R, Li Y, Karadag A, Corral J, Bellusci S, Xue YY, Belperio J, Torday JS. Effects of maternal food restriction on offspring lung extracellular matrix deposition and long term pulmonary function in an experimental rat model. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2012 Feb;47(2):162-71. doi:10.1002/ppul.21532. Epub 2011 Nov 4. PMID: 22058072

8. Truong NC, Abbasi A, Sakurai R, Lee WN, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Postnatal rosiglitazone administration to neonatal rat pups does not alter the young adult metabolic phenotype. Neonatology. 2012;101(3):217-24. Epub 2011 Nov 10. PMID: 22076469

9. Li Z, Choo-Wing R, Sun H, Sureshbabu A, Sakurai R, Rehan VK, Bhandari V. A potential role of the JNK pathway in hyperoxia-induced cell death, myofibroblast transdifferentiation and TGF-β1-mediated injury in the developing murine lung. BMC Cell Biol. 2011 Dec 15;12:54. PMID: 22172122

10. Rehan VK, Sakurai R, Li Y, Karadag A, Corral J, Bellusci S, Xue YY, Belperio J, Torday JS. Effects of maternal food restriction on offspring lung extracellular matrix deposition and long term pulmonary function in an experimental rat model. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2012 Feb;47(2):162-71. doi: 10.1002/ppul.21532. Epub 2011 Nov 4. PMID: 22058072

11. Rehan VK, Torday J. “Vitamin D and Lung Development in Early Life” Book Chapter in Vitamin D and the Lung Mechanisms and Disease Associations, (Ed. Litonjua, AA, Humana Press, New York, NY) May 31, 2012, ISBN-10: 1617798878, ISBN-13: 978-1617798870

12. El Agha E, Al Alam D, Carraro G, Mackenzie B, Goth K, De Langhe SP, Voswinckel R, Hajihosseini MK, Rehan VK, Bellusci S. Characterization of a Novel Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 (Fgf10) Knock-In Mouse Line to Target Mesenchymal Progenitors during Embryonic Development. PLoS One. 2012; 7(6): e38452. Epub 2012 Jun 13. PMID: 22719891

13. Rehan VK, Torday JS. PPARγ Signaling Mediates the Evolution, Development, Homeostasis, and Repair of the Lung. PPAR Res. 2012;2012:289867. Epub 2012 Jun 26. PMID: 22792087

14. Sierra H, Sakurai R, Lee WN, Truong NC, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Prenatal Rosiglitazone Administration to Neonatal Rat Pups Does Not Alter the Adult Metabolic Phenotype. PPAR Res. 2012;2012:604216. Epub 2012 Jul 3. PMID: 22829803

15. Liu J, Naeem E, Tian J, Lombardi V, Kwong K, Akbari O, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Gender-Specific Perinatal Nicotine-Induced Asthma in Rat Offspring. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2012 Sep 20. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23002101

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