Jason Y. Chang, Ph.D.

Education:

• National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  B.S., Pharmacy



• Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
  Ph.D., Pharmacology



• Washington University, St. Louis, MO
  Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pharmacology

Academic Appointments:

Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology
Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology

Research Interests:

Dr. Chang is a pharmacologist whose research interests include neurobiology, neurotoxicology, and programmed cell death (apoptosis). Current research in his laboratory includes two areas of interest.

1. Studies are ongoing to explore the cytotoxicity of cholesterol oxides on specialized cells of the brain and eye. Since cholesterol oxides (the major toxic components in oxidized low density lipoproteins) have been associated with atherogenesis, Dr. Chang is investigating these compounds for toxicity on a variety of cell types including neurons and glial cells of the nervous system and retina.



2. Studies have recently been initiated to explore the role of oxidative stress in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in persons over the age of 60. Since it is believed that oxidative stress on human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is an initial step which leads to AMD, Dr. Chang is using primary cultures of RPE from donor eyes to test the hypothesis that oxidative stress-induced MAP kinase dysfunction results in programmed cell death (apoptosis) of retinal pigment epithelium of the retina.

Representative Publications:

Chang JY, Liu LZ (2000) Inhibition of microglial nitric oxide production by hydrocortisone and glucocorticoid precursors. Neurochem Res 25:903-908.

Chang JY, Liu LZ (2000) Catecholamines inhibit microglial nitric oxide production. Res Bull 52:525-530.

Chang JY, Liu LZ (2001) Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonists prevent OH-cholesterol induced c-jun activation and cell death. BMC Pharmacology 1:10.

Chang JY, Phelan KD (2002) The effects of oxysterols on cells of the nervous system. (in press).

Garg, T.K. and Chang, J.Y. Oxidative stress causes ERK phosphorylation and cell death in cultured retinal pigment epithelium: Prevention of cell death by AG126 and 15-deoxy-delta 12, 14-PGJ2. BMC Ophthalmology 2003, 3:5 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2415/3/5

Garg, T.K. and Chang, J.Y. 15-deoxy-delta 12, 14-Prostaglandin J2 prevents reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial membrane depolarization induced by oxidative stress. BMC Pharmocol. 2004:4:6 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2210/4/6

Garg, T.K. and Chang, J.Y. Methylmercury causes oxidative stress and cytotoxicity in microglia: Attenuation by 15-deoxy-delta 12, 14-Prostaglandin J2.  J. Neuroimmunol. 2006; 171: 17-28