A Q & A with Shengyu Mu, M.D., Ph.D., newly named Chair of the UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Alan Tackett, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Executive Associate Dean for Basic Science Research.
Roots of a Career in Hypertension Research
AT: I’d love to know about your background. Where are you from, where did you grow up, and how did you get into science and land in Little Rock, Arkansas?
SM: I was born in Tianjin, China, a major port city near Beijing. I was interested in science from a young age. At first, I wanted to be an astronaut, and later a physicist like Albert Einstein. But when I became more aware that my parents had hypertension, that’s what turned me toward medicine.
I went to medical school and trained in a hospital, where I realized that while doctors knew how to treat hypertension by controlling blood pressure, they didn’t really understand what was causing it. So, after medical school, I went to the University of Tokyo, one of the largest universities in Asia, to keep learning about hypertension. There, I discovered that hypertension is actually rooted in the kidney. I joined the Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology at the University of Tokyo, earned my Ph.D., and stayed on for a postdoctoral year.
After that, I moved from Tokyo to the United States — partly a family decision. She did not speak Japanese, while I could speak English, so it made more sense for me to move to the United States. It turned out to be an important next step in both my personal life and scientific career.
AT: You’ve clearly pursued excellent training over your career, and you’re now nationally recognized in your field. Tell me more about your research program.
Discovering Salt Memory
SM: The research program begins with a simple question: What causes hypertension? I still teach this in medical school every year, and I tell students, honestly, that we don’t fully know. Hypertension has been recognized as a medical condition for a hundred years. We have long known that blood vessel constriction raises pressure, but over the past 40 years, the focus has shifted more toward the kidney, which retains extra salt and water and raises blood volume. Understanding that mechanism is central to understanding the root causes of hypertension.
About 10 years ago, my lab started looking at immune cells — specifically T cells — which was somewhat new territory for us. We found that T cells can stimulate kidney cells, triggering them to reabsorb more salt and water and expand blood volume, which causes hypertension. The most exciting discovery to come out of that work is something we call “salt memory.” T cells that migrate into the kidney stimulate kidney cells to retain more salt and water. Even after blood pressure is controlled and that retention subsides, the T cells “remember” the original stimulus. So, when the stimulus returns, they immediately drive the kidney to retain salt and water again.
I was trained in cardiovascular physiology and nephrology, so when we started this work, I knew very little about T cells. I’m grateful to the collaborators I found after joining UAMS, particularly Dr. Lin-Xi Li, an immunologist in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, who taught me not only the experimental side but how immunologists think about problems. We also began collaborating with Dr. Lu Huang in the same department, who helped us understand how shifts in immune-cell metabolism can transform T cells into tissue-resident memory cells that trigger and sustain salt memory.
That’s why hypertensive patients can have their blood pressure controlled, but their hypertension isn’t cured — it keeps coming back. That’s what we’re targeting now. More recently, we’ve expanded into metabolic syndrome, particularly Type 2 Diabetes. It’s a clinically important direction: about half of American adults have hypertension, but among people with Type 2 Diabetes, that number is closer to 90 percent. We believe metabolic shifts in the body may be converting immune cells that are supposed to protect us into cells that damage the kidney and raise blood pressure.
AT: That’s fascinating — the crosstalk between kidney physiology and the immune system, and how it connects to diabetes, which is such an important problem both nationally and here in Arkansas. Given that a lot of your work is rooted in mechanistic understanding, what do you see for the future of this field?
SM: Hypertension research and treatment is moving away from simply controlling blood pressure toward targeting underlying mechanisms. And it’s not just one mechanism — it’s multiple systems working together: the vasculature, the kidney, and likely the immune system as well. I believe future treatment will involve combining therapies that target multiple organs and pathways at once. That combination approach is what could ultimately provide a real cure for hypertension.
Training the Next Generation of Scientists
AT: You’ve built a terrific, highly translational research program. One thing you also do well is train graduate students. What’s the recipe for that success?
SM: I’ve been fortunate to work with talented, hardworking, and highly motivated students. They’re the reason for whatever success we’ve had. My job is to recognize their potential and create an environment where they can develop. I don’t think there’s a single recipe, but I try to train my students in the way I was trained: as colleagues, not just as people learning from me. We figure things out together. That’s exactly how my mentor treated me.
I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all strategy, because every student is different. I get to know them and tailor my approach to each person.
AT: When you work with faculty colleagues, how do you translate some of that approach to how they train their own students?
SM: I’ll answer that from my new perspective as department chair. Before I met with any of the faculty, I met individually with all of the students to hear what they wanted, what they were thinking, and how they felt about the department. I encourage faculty to talk and communicate with their students rather than simply directing them, and to discuss difficult mentoring situations openly. I meet with faculty, especially junior faculty, every two weeks, and I always ask about their students and their progress. I share my approach, not because it’s the only right one, but so faculty can consider it and decide what works for them. It’s a two-way conversation; I learn a lot from our faculty as well.
Stepping Into the Chair Role
AT: You were recently named Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Your predecessor, Nancy Rusch, Ph.D., was quite the leader and trailblazer. Tell me about her impact on the department and on you personally.
SM: We’d probably need two hours to do that justice, but I’ll mention a few things I’ll always remember. Nancy led this department for 20 years, and her impact shows in our research funding, publications, faculty success, and the strength of our graduate program. She built a department with strong, multidisciplinary programs. We cover cardiovascular and renal pharmacology, neuroscience, cancer biology, toxicology, and drug abuse studies. I’ve often wondered how she understood all of those areas well enough to give every faculty member good guidance. She set high expectations, but she also understood that a chair’s most important role is to create opportunities for faculty and trainees to succeed.
Her impact on me personally was significant. I joined UAMS in 2013 as a research-track junior faculty member, and it took me a few years to adjust to the differences in life and academic environment. In 2017, Nancy offered me the opportunity to become a tenure-track assistant professor, which is where I really established my independent research program. She saw potential in me and was willing to invest in it. Without that opportunity, I wouldn’t be the department chair today. After I agreed to take on this role, she also taught me a great deal about what it means to be a chair — that you must support each individual faculty member while always keeping the long-term interests of the whole department in mind. She told me that balance is the hardest part.
A Five-Year Vision for the Department
AT: The department, college, and campus are certainly better for Nancy having been here. What’s your vision for the department five years from now?
SM: It might be a little ambitious, but I want to build a department that’s nationally recognized for excellent science, outstanding training, and a genuinely collaborative culture. Since we’re already multidisciplinary, I believe collaboration is where we can grow the most.
The first priority over the next five years is investing in people, just as Nancy invested in me. I want to hire excellent junior faculty, not simply to replace retiring faculty, but to build stronger collaborations and help define the department’s future.
The second priority is establishing interdisciplinary research programs. I plan to start with a cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolism research program — an area where my own lab is at the center — and use it to connect researchers across cardiovascular science, kidney research, metabolism, immunology, neuroscience, and even aging and clinical research. I’d like to build several programs like this over the next five years.
The third priority is education and training. Our department already has a strong training record. We have multiple students with NIH and other national fellowships, and I want to keep building on that.
Life Outside the Lab
AT: Your department is always one I look to as a model for collaborative, multidisciplinary research. You do an exceptional job training students, including through NIH-funded training programs embedded in the department.
Last question: you’re a busy guy — new chair role, a big research program — what do you do for fun?
SM: I have a long list! I spend time with my wife and daughter. I enjoy fishing and playing chess — chess especially since fishing in Arkansas in July or August is basically torture, so I need some indoor options. On good-weather days, I enjoy woodworking and building projects. I also ride bicycles, play table tennis, and some basketball.
AT: Thank you for your time today. The College of Medicine is here to support you as you lead your department forward
SM: Thank you so much, Alan.