2025 Harriet Dustan Award and Lecture – Heddwen L. Brooks, PhD

Heddwen L. Brooks, PhD

Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, Louisiana

Dr. Heddwen Brooks received her bachelor’s degree from the University College of Wales in Aberystwyth, her master’s from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and her PhD from the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine in London. She followed this with training as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a visiting fellowship at the NHLBI Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Institutes of Health with Dr. Mark Knepper. Dr. Brooks served as a faculty member at the University of Arizona from 2001 to 2022, in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, and is now Chair and Professor of Physiology at Tulane University School of Medicine and Co-Director of the MD-PhD program. She has been recognized with the AstraZeneca Young Investigator Award, and the Lazaro Mandel Award from the American Physiological Society and the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) 2022 Award of Excellence for Research in Cardiovascular Health and Disease in Women.

Dr. Brooks is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Physiology, AJP Renal and is internationally recognized as a leader in research mentorship, scientific ethics, and professional scientific writing. Dr. Brooks’ goal has always been to increase the research capabilities of those surrounding her while working together to solve important scientific questions. She is a passionate advocate for women in science.

Research in Dr. Brooks' laboratory include work in sex differences physiology, integrating cross-disciplinary expertise in hypertension, immunology, diabetes, menopause, and kidney physiology, and examining the molecular signaling pathways involved in postmenopausal accelerated-aging. Her more recent efforts focus on the role of inflammation, T cells and macrophages in hypertension onset and metabolic syndrome. Dr. Brooks has served on many study sections including VA nephrology merit review, Established Investigator American Heart Association National Study Section, and served as an Elected Councilor for the American Physiological Society Executive Council, and is currently a member of the Board of Scientific Councilors, NIDDK.