Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics

John S. Torday, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynecology
Division of Neonatology
Director, Perinatal Research Training Program
Director, Henry L. Guenther Confocal Facility Director

Contact Information:
Walter P. Martin Research Center
1124 West Carson St., RB-1
Torrance, CA 90502

Phone: (310) 222-8186
Fax: (310) 222-3887
E-mail: jtorday@labiomed.org

Research Activities:
Dr.Torday was born in Budapest, Hungary. He has been a member of the faculties of Harvard Medical School, Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology; The University of Maryland School of Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology; and The David Geffen School of Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology (1998–present).

He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. As a member of the Division of Neonatology, he is the Director of the Perinatal Biology Training Program, and the Director of the Henry L. Guenther Laboratory for Cell Molecular Biology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has trained more than 100 research fellows and graduate students in research methods and concepts during the course of his career in Neonatology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Physiology.

Dr. Torday is a pioneer in the field of developmental lung biology, with current research interests in the developmental/phylogenetic origins of lung cell phenotypic heterogeneity and the gene regulatory network determinants of lung evolution. He is particularly interested in using evolutionary biology of the lung as an approach to clinical diagnosis and treatment of chronic lung disease, and as a prototype for predictive and preventive medicine.

He has authored 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 321 abstracts, the majority of which form the basis for the conceptualization of evolutionary mechanisms in medicine, including a series of 12 journal articles that specifically address this subject in opinion pieces. The journal articles on evolution and medicine form the basis for a monograph entitled "Evolutionary Biology, Cell-Cell Communication and Complex Disease" (JS Torday and VK Rehan, Wiley-Blackwell, January 24, 2012). The book is a ‘primer’ for mechanistic thinking in evolution and medicine. It is intended for both established investigators and those in training.

Training:
NIH Reproductive Biology Postdoctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

Education:
Ph.D., Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
M.Sc., Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
B.S., Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

Selected Publications:
1. JS Torday and VK Rehan. Evolutionary Biology, Cell-Cell Communication and Complex Disease. Wiley-Blackwell, January 24, 2012. (Book)

2. 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. 2011 Nov 10;101(3):217-224. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 22076469.

3. 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. PubMed PMID: 22058072; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3258334.

4. 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. PubMed PMID:21821729; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3213983.

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. PubMed PMID: 21814155; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3189277.

6. Torday JS, Rehan VK. A cell-molecular approach predicts vertebrate evolution. Mol Biol Evol. 2011 Nov;28(11):2973-81. Epub 2011 May 18. PubMed PMID: 21593047; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3199438.

7. 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. PubMed PMID: 21478255; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3129897.

8. 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. PubMed PMID: 21355041; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3094026.

9. Sakurai R, Cerny LM, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Mechanism for nicotine-induced up-regulation of Wnt signaling in human alveolar interstitial fibroblasts. Exp Lung Res. 2011 Apr;37(3):144-54. Epub 2010 Dec 6. PubMed PMID: 21133803; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3062662.

10. Rehan VK, Sakurai R, Corral J, Krebs M, Ibe B, Ihida-Stansbury K, Torday JS. Antenatally administered PPAR-gamma agonist rosiglitazone prevents hyperoxia-induced neonatal rat lung injury. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2010 Nov;299(5):L672-80. Epub 2010 Aug 20. PubMed PMID: 20729387; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2980388.

11. Krebs M, Sakurai R, Torday JS, Rehan VK. Evidence for in vivo nicotine-induced alveolar interstitial fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation. Exp Lung Res. 2010 Sep;36(7):390-8. PubMed PMID: 20715982; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2924775.

12. Torday JS, Rehan VK. Cell-cell signaling drives the evolution of complex traits: introduction-lung evo-devo. Integr Comp Biol. 2009 Aug;49(2):142-54. Epub 2009 May 11. PubMed PMID: 20607136; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2895351.

13. Torday JS, Powell FL, Farmer CG, Orgeig S, Nielsen HC, Hall AJ. Leptin integrates vertebrate evolution: from oxygen to the blood-gas barrier. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2010 Aug 31;173 Suppl:S37-42. Epub 2010 Jan 21. Review. PubMed PMID: 20096383.

14. Rehan VK, Asotra K, Torday JS. The effects of smoking on the developing lung: insights from a biologic model for lung development, homeostasis, and repair. Lung. 2009 Sep-Oct;187(5):281-9. Epub 2009 Jul 30. Review. PubMed PMID: 19641967; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2928656.

15. Sakurai R, Shin E, Fonseca S, Sakurai T, Litonjua AA, Weiss ST, Torday JS, Rehan VK. 1alpha,25(OH)2D3 and its 3-epimer promote rat lung alveolar epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and inhibit lipofibroblast apoptosis. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2009 Sep;297(3):L496-505. Epub 2009 Jul 2. PubMed PMID: 19574420; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2739775.

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