Purdue Health and Kinesiology researcher awarded prestigious Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology and Medicine

Written By: Rebecca Hoffa, rhoffa@purdue.edu 

Igor Fernandes, assistant professor in Purdue University’s Department of Health and Kinesiology, is the 2025 recipient of the Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology and Medicine. One of the most prestigious awards for young investigators in integrative physiology, the Guyton Award provides $10,000 to support a promising research program that reflects physiologist Arthur Guyton’s interests in feedback control and mathematical modeling related to systems in the human body. 

“The Guyton textbook is one of the most popular books among undergrads in the medical field — I used to spend so many hours reading that book — and I had no idea that in the future I would get an award in his name, so that feels great,” Fernandes said. 

Fernandes’ lab, the Human Neurovascular Control Laboratory, takes a mechanistic approach toward assessing the vascular and autonomic systems in humans, looking specifically at the impact of diseases like hypertension and heart failure. 

“I have a clear vision for my work,” Fernandes said. “At this stage, I am focused on identifying cardiovascular control mechanisms that become impaired by specific diseases. Our next step and goal is to develop strategies that restore their function and ultimately improve the health of affected individuals.” 

Fernandes currently has a grant from the American Heart Association in which he is looking at the causes of autonomic dysfunction in patients with pulmonary hypertension. To do this, the lab uses ultrasound technology as well as microneurography, a technique that directly quantifies the activity of the sympathetic nervous system in humans.  

“With our integrative physiology approach, we aim to connect the puzzle pieces that reveal how the cardiovascular system functions in both health and disease,” Fernandes said.  

In addition to the American Heart Association grant, Fernandes has also laid the groundwork for understanding how the blood vessels of the human brain are affected by hypoxia, or the reduction of oxygen concentration. This is a common symptom associated with stroke, a condition for which heart disease and hypertension are risk factors. Fernandes has found that when individuals with hypertension are exposed to hypoxia, they not only present an impairment in the response of the blood vessels of the brain, but they also present a high activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which causes responses such as increased heart rate and constriction of the blood vessels. This opens the opportunity for additional collaborative research to explore how excessive sympathetic activation contributes to impaired brain blood vessel responses in hypoxia.  

“I have been able to combine expertise from anesthesiology and molecular biology to understand how the brain blood vessels are regulated in conditions of stress, such as hypoxia,” Fernandes said. “So, I think those studies add important insights to the literature and might help us to identify targets to minimize the impact that conditions such as stroke have on people’s lives.” 

Likewise, Fernandes’ lab has also looked at the opposite end of the spectrum with hyperoxia, a common condition in hospital settings in which the body is exposed to overly high levels of oxygen. The team discovered that contrary to its widespread use in hospital settings, hyperoxia actually reduces blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain. This led them to study the mechanism that causes this phenomenon and find that increasing ascorbic acid levels helped mitigate the situation.  

“We showed for the first time that whenever we increase the amount or the antioxidant defenses of the human body, we inhibit that hyperoxia-induced constriction of the brain blood vessels in conditions, basically restoring the amount of flow and oxygen delivery that reaches the human brain,” Fernandes said. 

Fernandes is also working on a pilot project with Bruno Roseguini, associate professor of health and kinesiology, and Alvin Kao, assistant professor of health and kinesiology, as part of the College of Health and Human Sciences’ (HHS) Health of the Forces initiative. Combining his expertise in brain blood flow with Roseguini’s expertise in heat exposure and Kao’s expertise in cognition, the team is exploring the drug acetazolamide, which enhances blood flow to the brain to increase cognitive functioning in extreme environments with high altitude and heat and where rigorous exercise is required — all of which are common circumstances for soldiers. 

“The translational research contributions Dr. Fernandes is making are a fantastic embodiment of the College of Health and Human Sciences’ mission to make lives better,” said Aaron Bowman, HHS dean. “The college is proud of Dr. Fernandes for his accomplishment in receiving this prestigious award and looks forward to the future promise his work holds.” 

Fernandes credits the support he’s received not only from his department but also the college, his mentors and his family in helping him achieve success and the “lab of his dreams.” 

“Funding initiatives, not only from the department but especially from the college have helped a lot,” Fernandes said. “Without the support of the college, this wouldn’t be possible.” 

Ultimately, Fernandes noted that receiving the Guyton Award comes as a recognition of all the hard work and determination that’s led him to where he currently is in his research program. 

“This award will undoubtedly strengthen my future research applications,” Fernandes said. “But more importantly, receiving recognition from the scientific community is truly rewarding.”