Alex P. Carll, Ph.D., MSPH

Associate Professor of Physiology

502-852-4243 •

Education and Training

Ph.D.: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Environmental Health Sciences
MSPH: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Environmental Science and Engineering
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences

Research Interest

Exposure to airborne toxicants is tied to arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, and heart failure in the general public. Our team seeks to validate and better understand these associations. We investigate how inhaled toxicants impair cardiac conduction and contraction in both rodents and humans, with particular interest in the nervous system’s role. We study the impacts of multiple toxicants, including e-cigarette aerosols, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter from many sources (automobiles, urban atmospheres, and consumer products).

Current Investigative Questions

In both rodents and humans, the Carll Lab investigates:

  1. What are the neural and cellular pathways underlying pollutant-induced myocardial dysfunction and remodeling?
  2. How do e-cigarette aerosols adversely affect cardiac function, intracellular signaling, and neuroregulation?
  3. How do constituents contribute to the cardiac risks of exposure to e-cigarette aerosols?


Findings

Our recent findings suggest that tobacco product aerosols alter cardiac conduction and promote arrhythmia in both mice and humans through autonomic, neural, and endocrine pathways.

Featured Publications

Find all papers and citations via ResearchGate or the National Library of Medicine

  • Kucera C, Ramalingam A, Srivastava S, Bhatnagar A, Carll AP. Nicotine Formulation Influences the Autonomic and Arrhythmogenic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes. Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Apr 22;26(5):536-544. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntad237. PMID: 38011908; PMCID: PMC11033561.
  • Irfan A, Riggs DW, Koromia G, DeFilippis AP, Soliman EZ, Bhatnagar A, Carll AP. Smoking-associated Electrocardiographic Abnormalities Predict Cardiovascular Mortality: Insights from NHANES. Res Sq [Preprint]. 2024 Jan 1:rs.3.rs-3615687. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3615687/v1. PMID: 38260619; PMCID: PMC10802705.
  • Carll AP, Arab C, Salatini R, Miles MD, Nystoriak MA, Fulghum KL, Riggs DW, Shirk GA, Theis WS, Talebi N, Bhatnagar A, Conklin DJ. E-cigarettes and their lone constituents induce cardiac arrhythmia and conduction defects in mice. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 25;13(1):6088. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33203-1. PMID: 36284091; PMCID: PMC9596490.
  • Raimundo RD, Sato MA, da Silva TD, de Abreu LC, Valenti VE, Riggs DW, Perrow Carll A. Open and Closed Endotracheal Suction Systems Divergently Affect Pulmonary Function in Mechanically Ventilated Subjects. Respir Care. 2021 May;66(5):785-792. doi: 10.4187/respcare.08511. Epub 2021 Mar 9. PMID: 33688090.
  • Irfan AB, Arab C, DeFilippis AP, Lorkiewicz P, Keith RJ, Xie Z, Bhatnagar A, Carll AP. Smoking Accelerates Atrioventricular Conduction in Humans Concordant with Increased Dopamine Release. Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2021 Feb;21(2):169-178. doi: 10.1007/s12012-020-09610-5. Epub 2020 Oct 12. PMID: 33043409; PMCID: PMC7855806.
  • Carll AP, Salatini R, Pirela SV, Wang Y, Xie Z, Lorkiewicz P, Naeem N, Qian Y, Castranova V, Godleski JJ, Demokritou P. Inhalation of printer-emitted particles impairs cardiac conduction, hemodynamics, and autonomic regulation and induces arrhythmia and electrical remodeling in rats. Part Fibre Toxicol. 2020 Jan 29;17(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s12989-019-0335-z. PMID: 31996220; PMCID: PMC6990551.
  • Conklin DJ, Schick S, Blaha MJ, Carll A, DeFilippis A, Ganz P, Hall ME, Hamburg N, O'Toole T, Reynolds L, Srivastava S, Bhatnagar A. Cardiovascular injury induced by tobacco products: assessment of risk factors and biomarkers of harm. A Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science compilation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2019 Apr 1;316(4):H801-H827. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00591.2018. Epub 2019 Feb 1. PMID: 30707616; PMCID: PMC6483019.
  • da Silva TD, Massetti T, Crocetta TB, de Mello Monteiro CB, Carll A, Vanderlei LCM, Arbaugh C, Oliveira FR, de Abreu LC, Ferreira Filho C, Godleski J, Ferreira C. Heart Rate Variability and Cardiopulmonary Dysfunction in Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Systematic Review. Pediatr Cardiol. 2018 Jun;39(5):869-883. doi: 10.1007/s00246-018-1881-0. Epub 2018 Apr 25. PMID: 29696428.
  • Carll AP, Crespo SM, Filho MS, Zati DH, Coull BA, Diaz EA, Raimundo RD, Jaeger TNG, Ricci-Vitor AL, Papapostolou V, Lawrence JE, Garner DM, Perry BS, Harkema JR, Godleski JJ. Inhaled ambient-level traffic-derived particulates decrease cardiac vagal influence and baroreflexes and increase arrhythmia in a rat model of metabolic syndrome. Part Fibre Toxicol. 2017 May 25;14(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s12989-017-0196-2. PMID: 28545487; PMCID: PMC5445437.
  • Carll AP, Haykal-Coates N, Winsett DW, Hazari MS, Ledbetter AD, Richards JH, Cascio WE, Costa DL, Farraj AK. Cardiomyopathy confers susceptibility to particulate matter-induced oxidative stress, vagal dominance, arrhythmia and pulmonary inflammation in heart failure-prone rats. Inhal Toxicol. 2015 Feb;27(2):100-12. doi: 10.3109/08958378.2014.995387. PMID: 25600220; PMCID: PMC4835220.