Nicole Ward, Ph.D.

Professor

nicole.ward.1@vanderbilt.edu
Faculty Appointments
Professor of Dermatology Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and ImmunologyProfessor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
Education
Ph.D., Dalhousie University, Halifax, CanadaM.Sc., McMaster University, Ontario, CanadaB.S., University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada
Office Address
1161 21st Ave
Nashville, TN 37232
Research Description
Dr. Ward is a Professor and the Vice-Chair of Basic Research in the Department of Dermatology. She joined the department in January 2022 after working at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for more than 18 years. Dr. Ward completed her undergraduate, graduate and fellowship training in Canada before moving to Cleveland in 2003. Her active research program is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory skin diseases, like psoriasis and psoriasis-related comorbidities. Her lab specializes in generating and studying unique mouse models of inflammatory skin disease. Her group has published several seminal findings including being the first to show that chronic skin-initiated inflammation can drive the development of cardiovascular disease and that suppressing it reverses disease; and that cutaneous sensory nerve interactions with dendritic cells are critical for eliciting and sustaining psoriasis pathogenesis, thus explaining the cellular mechanisms underlying psoriasis disease remission following skin denervation. Her paradigm shifting work in psoriasis resulted in her being awarded the Eugene M. Farber Lecture at the 2016 Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting. She was the first non-MD, first woman and youngest person to be awarded this honor. In 2019, the American Skin Association acknowledged her scientific contributions with the Research Achievement Award in Psoriasis and in 2022 the National Psoriasis Foundation honored her at their Women Who Lead Commit to Cure Gala. Dr. Ward trains, teaches, and mentors undergraduate, graduate and medical students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty. At any given time, Dr. Ward’s lab is usually found to be surprisingly small. However, it is also often referred to as “small but mighty”.

Dr. Ward's research interests include psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis (PsA), osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), lupus, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), other inflammatory skin diseases, multi-‘omics, microbiome, and skin disease co-morbidities.
Research Keywords
inflammation, mouse models, psoriasis, arthritis, immunology
Publications
Zhang H, Patrick MT, Tejasvi T, Sarkar MK, Wasikowski R, Stuart PE, Li Q, Xing X, Voorhees JJ, Ward NL, He K, Zhou X, Gudjonsson JE, Nair RP, Elder JT, Tsoi LC. Retrospective pharmacogenetic study of psoriasis highlights the role of KLK7 in TNF signaling. Br J Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2023 Sep 9/6/2023; PMID: 37672660, PII: 7261692, DOI: 10.1093/bjd/ljad332, ISSN: 1365-2133.

Ma F, Plazyo O, Billi AC, Tsoi LC, Xing X, Wasikowski R, Gharaee-Kermani M, Hile G, Jiang Y, Harms PW, Xing E, Kirma J, Xi J, Hsu JE, Sarkar MK, Chung Y, Di Domizio J, Gilliet M, Ward NL, Maverakis E, Klechevsky E, Voorhees JJ, Elder JT, Lee JH, Kahlenberg JM, Pellegrini M, Modlin RL, Gudjonsson JE. Single cell and spatial sequencing define processes by which keratinocytes and fibroblasts amplify inflammatory responses in psoriasis. Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 6/12/2023; 14(1): 3455. PMID: 37308489, PMCID: PMC10261041, PII: 10.1038/s41467-023-39020-4, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39020-4, ISSN: 2041-1723.

Goepfert A, Barske C, Lehmann S, Wirth E, Willemsen J, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL, Sarkar MK, Hemmig R, Kolbinger F, Rondeau JM. IL-17-induced dimerization of IL-17RA drives the formation of the IL-17 signalosome to potentiate signaling. Cell Rep. 2022 Oct 10/18/2022; 41(3): 111489. PMID: 36260993, PMCID: PMC9637376, PII: S2211-1247(22)01339-0, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111489, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Bandyopadhyay M, Morelli AE, Balmert SC, Ward NL, Erdos G, Sumpter TL, Korkmaz E, Kaplan DH, Oberbarnscheidt MH, Tkacheva O, Shufesky WJ, Falo LD, Larregina AT. Skin codelivery of contact sensitizers and neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists integrated in microneedle arrays suppresses allergic contact dermatitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol [print-electronic]. 2022 Jul; 150(1): 114-30. PMID: 35085664, PMCID: PMC9271537, PII: S0091-6749(22)00079-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.12.794, ISSN: 1097-6825.

Gangwar RS, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL. Mouse Models of Psoriasis: A Comprehensive Review. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2022 Mar; 142(3 Pt B): 884-97. PMID: 34953514, PMCID: PMC10190156, PII: S0022-202X(21)01442-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.06.019, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Gharaee-Kermani M, Estadt SN, Tsoi LC, Wolf-Fortune SJ, Liu J, Xing X, Theros J, Reed TJ, Lowe L, Gruszka D, Ward NL, Gudjonsson JE, Kahlenberg JM. IFN-¿ Is a Rheostat for Development of Psoriasiform Inflammation. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2022 Jan; 142(1): 155-165.e3-165.e3. PMID: 34364883, PMCID: PMC8688309, PII: S0022-202X(21)01452-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.05.029, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Shao S, Chen J, Swindell WR, Tsoi LC, Xing X, Ma F, Uppala R, Sarkar MK, Plazyo O, Billi AC, Wasikowski R, Smith KM, Honore P, Scott VE, Maverakis E, Kahlenberg JM, Wang G, Ward NL, Harms PW, Gudjonsson JE. Phospholipase A2 enzymes represent a shared pathogenic pathway in psoriasis and pityriasis rubra pilaris. JCI Insight. 2021 Oct 10/22/2021; 6(20): PMID: 34491907, PMCID: PMC8564909, PII: e151911, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.151911, ISSN: 2379-3708.

Shao S, Tsoi LC, Swindell WR, Chen J, Uppala R, Billi AC, Xing X, Zeng C, Sarkar MK, Wasikowski R, Jiang Y, Kirma J, Sun J, Plazyo O, Wang G, Harms PW, Voorhees JJ, Ward NL, Ma F, Pellegrini M, Merleev A, Perez White BE, Modlin RL, Andersen B, Maverakis E, Weidinger S, Kahlenberg JM, Gudjonsson JE. IRAK2 Has a Critical Role in Promoting Feed-Forward Amplification of Epidermal Inflammatory Responses. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2021 Oct; 141(10): 2436-48. PMID: 33864770, PMCID: PMC9423738, PII: S0022-202X(21)01139-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.03.019, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Yan D, Gudjonsson JE, Le S, Maverakis E, Plazyo O, Ritchlin C, Scher JU, Singh R, Ward NL, Bell S, Liao W. New Frontiers in Psoriatic Disease Research, Part I: Genetics, Environmental Triggers, Immunology, Pathophysiology, and Precision Medicine. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2021 Sep; 141(9): 2112-2122.e3-2122.e3. PMID: 34303522, PMCID: PMC8384663, PII: S0022-202X(21)01158-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.02.764, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Garshick MS, Ward NL, Krueger JG, Berger JS. Cardiovascular Risk in Patients With Psoriasis: JACC Review Topic of the Week. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021 Apr 4/6/2021; 77(13): 1670-80. PMID: 33795041, PMCID: PMC8168628, PII: S0735-1097(21)00373-9, DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.02.009, ISSN: 1558-3597.

Uppala R, Tsoi LC, Harms PW, Wang B, Billi AC, Maverakis E, Michelle Kahlenberg J, Ward NL, Gudjonsson JE. "Autoinflammatory psoriasis"-genetics and biology of pustular psoriasis. Cell Mol Immunol [print-electronic]. 2021 Feb; 18(2): 307-17. PMID: 32814870, PMCID: PMC8027616, PII: 10.1038/s41423-020-0519-3, DOI: 10.1038/s41423-020-0519-3, ISSN: 2042-0226.

Jiang Y, Tsoi LC, Billi AC, Ward NL, Harms PW, Zeng C, Maverakis E, Kahlenberg JM, Gudjonsson JE. Cytokinocytes: the diverse contribution of keratinocytes to immune responses in skin. JCI Insight. 2020 Oct 10/15/2020; 5(20): PMID: 33055429, PMCID: PMC7605526, PII: 142067, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.142067, ISSN: 2379-3708.

Billi AC, Ludwig JE, Fritz Y, Rozic R, Swindell WR, Tsoi LC, Gruzska D, Abdollahi-Roodsaz S, Xing X, Diaconu D, Uppala R, Camhi MI, Klenotic PA, Sarkar MK, Husni ME, Scher JU, McDonald C, Kahlenberg JM, Midura RJ, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL. KLK6 expression in skin induces PAR1-mediated psoriasiform dermatitis and inflammatory joint disease. J Clin Invest. 2020 Jun 6/1/2020; 130(6): 3151-7. PMID: 32155135, PMCID: PMC7260032, PII: 133159, DOI: 10.1172/JCI133159, ISSN: 1558-8238.

Horsley V, Glass D, Minnillo R, Gallo R, Cruz P, Ward NL. Diversity is Excellence: Initiatives in the Society for Investigative Dermatology to Broaden Participation [letter]. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2019 Oct; 139(10): 2217-9. PMID: 31381893, PII: S0022-202X(19)32681-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2019.07.695, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Portillo JC, Van Grol J, Saffo S, Lopez Corcino Y, Rodriguez M, Fox BA, Bzik DJ, Ward NL, Dubyak GR, Rojas RE, Toosi Z, Subauste CS. CD40 in Endothelial Cells Restricts Neural Tissue Invasion by Toxoplasma gondii. Infect Immun [electronic-print]. 2019 Aug; 87(8): PMID: 31109947, PMCID: PMC6652775, PII: IAI.00868-18, DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00868-18, ISSN: 1098-5522.

Billi AC, Gharaee-Kermani M, Fullmer J, Tsoi LC, Hill BD, Gruszka D, Ludwig J, Xing X, Estadt S, Wolf SJ, Rizvi SM, Berthier CC, Hodgin JB, Beamer MA, Sarkar MK, Liang Y, Uppala R, Shao S, Zeng C, Harms PW, Verhaegen ME, Voorhees JJ, Wen F, Ward NL, Dlugosz AA, Kahlenberg JM, Gudjonsson JE. The female-biased factor VGLL3 drives cutaneous and systemic autoimmunity. JCI Insight. 2019 Apr 4/18/2019; 4(8): PMID: 30996136, PMCID: PMC6538382, PII: 127291, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.127291, ISSN: 2379-3708.

Li Y, Golden JB, Camhi MI, Zhang X, Fritz Y, Diaconu D, Ivanco TL, Simon DI, Kikly K, McCormick TS, Wang Y, Ward NL. Protection from Psoriasis-Related Thrombosis after Inhibition of IL-23 or IL-17A. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2018 Feb; 138(2): 310-5. PMID: 28951241, PMCID: PMC6693345, PII: S0022-202X(17)32978-0, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.09.021, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Swindell WR, Beamer MA, Sarkar MK, Loftus S, Fullmer J, Xing X, Ward NL, Tsoi LC, Kahlenberg MJ, Liang Y, Gudjonsson JE. RNA-Seq Analysis of IL-1B and IL-36 Responses in Epidermal Keratinocytes Identifies a Shared MyD88-Dependent Gene Signature. Front Immunol. 2018; 9: 80. PMID: 29434599, PMCID: PMC5796909, DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00080, ISSN: 1664-3224.

Hawkes JE, Adalsteinsson JA, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL. Research Techniques Made Simple: Murine Models of Human Psoriasis. J Invest Dermatol. 2018 Jan; 138(1): e1-e8-e8. PMID: 29273150, PMCID: PMC6902858, PII: S0022-202X(17)33081-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.10.013, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Swindell WR, Sarkar MK, Liang Y, Xing X, Baliwag J, Elder JT, Johnston A, Ward NL, Gudjonsson JE. RNA-seq identifies a diminished differentiation gene signature in primary monolayer keratinocytes grown from lesional and uninvolved psoriatic skin. Sci Rep. 2017 Dec 12/22/2017; 7(1): 18045. PMID: 29273799, PMCID: PMC5741737, PII: 10.1038/s41598-017-18404-9, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18404-9, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Mehta NN, Teague HL, Swindell WR, Baumer Y, Ward NL, Xing X, Baugous B, Johnston A, Joshi AA, Silverman J, Barnes DH, Wolterink L, Nair RP, Stuart PE, Playford M, Voorhees JJ, Sarkar MK, Elder JT, Gallagher K, Ganesh SK, Gudjonsson JE. IFN-¿ and TNF-a synergism may provide a link between psoriasis and inflammatory atherogenesis. Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 10/23/2017; 7(1): 13831. PMID: 29062018, PMCID: PMC5653789, PII: 10.1038/s41598-017-14365-1, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-14365-1, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Arbiser JL, Nowak R, Michaels K, Skabytska Y, Biedermann T, Lewis MJ, Bonner MY, Rao S, Gilbert LC, Yusuf N, Karlsson I, Fritz Y, Ward NL. Evidence for biochemical barrier restoration: Topical solenopsin analogs improve inflammation and acanthosis in the KC-Tie2 mouse model of psoriasis. Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 9/11/2017; 7(1): 11198. PMID: 28894119, PMCID: PMC5593857, PII: 10.1038/s41598-017-10580-y, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10580-y, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Swindell WR, Michaels KA, Sutter AJ, Diaconu D, Fritz Y, Xing X, Sarkar MK, Liang Y, Tsoi A, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL. Imiquimod has strain-dependent effects in mice and does not uniquely model human psoriasis. Genome Med. 2017 Mar 3/9/2017; 9(1): 24. PMID: 28279190, PMCID: PMC5345243, PII: 10.1186/s13073-017-0415-3, DOI: 10.1186/s13073-017-0415-3, ISSN: 1756-994X.

Fritz Y, Klenotic PA, Swindell WR, Yin ZQ, Groft SG, Zhang L, Baliwag J, Camhi MI, Diaconu D, Young AB, Foster AM, Johnston A, Gudjonsson JE, McCormick TS, Ward NL. Induction of Alternative Proinflammatory Cytokines Accounts for Sustained Psoriasiform Skin Inflammation in IL-17C+IL-6KO Mice. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2017 Mar; 137(3): 696-705. PMID: 27984037, PMCID: PMC5326585, PII: S0022-202X(16)32605-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2016.10.021, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Hawkes JE, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL. The Snowballing Literature on Imiquimod-Induced Skin Inflammation in Mice: A Critical Appraisal. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2017 Mar; 137(3): 546-9. PMID: 27955901, PMCID: PMC5326590, PII: S0022-202X(16)32608-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2016.10.024, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Monin L, Gudjonsson JE, Childs EE, Amatya N, Xing X, Verma AH, Coleman BM, Garg AV, Killeen M, Mathers A, Ward NL, Gaffen SL. MCPIP1/Regnase-1 Restricts IL-17A- and IL-17C-Dependent Skin Inflammation. J Immunol [print-electronic]. 2017 Jan 1/15/2017; 198(2): 767-75. PMID: 27920272, PMCID: PMC5225040, PII: jimmunol.1601551, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601551, ISSN: 1550-6606.

Wang Q, McCormick TS, Ward NL, Cooper KD, Conic R, Xu R. Combining mechanism-based prediction with patient-based profiling for psoriasis metabolomics biomarker discovery. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2017; 2017: 1734-43. PMID: 29854244, PMCID: PMC5977692, ISSN: 1942-597X.

Wang Y, Golden JB, Fritz Y, Zhang X, Diaconu D, Camhi MI, Gao H, Dawes SM, Xing X, Ganesh SK, Gudjonsson JE, Simon DI, McCormick TS, Ward NL. Interleukin 6 regulates psoriasiform inflammation-associated thrombosis. JCI Insight. 2016 Dec 12/8/2016; 1(20): e89384. PMID: 27942589, PMCID: PMC5135273, PII: 89384, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.89384, ISSN: 2379-3708.

Santilli S, Kast DR, Grozdev I, Cao L, Feig RL, Golden JB, Debanne SM, Gilkeson RC, Orringer CE, McCormick TS, Ward NL, Cooper KD, Korman NJ. Visualization of atherosclerosis as detected by coronary artery calcium and carotid intima-media thickness reveals significant atherosclerosis in a cross-sectional study of psoriasis patients in a tertiary care center. J Transl Med. 2016 Jul 7/22/2016; 14(1): 217. PMID: 27448600, PMCID: PMC4957305, PII: 10.1186/s12967-016-0947-0, DOI: 10.1186/s12967-016-0947-0, ISSN: 1479-5876.

Zhang LJ, Sen GL, Ward NL, Johnston A, Chun K, Chen Y, Adase C, Sanford JA, Gao N, Chensee M, Sato E, Fritz Y, Baliwag J, Williams MR, Hata T, Gallo RL. Antimicrobial Peptide LL37 and MAVS Signaling Drive Interferon-ß Production by Epidermal Keratinocytes during Skin Injury. Immunity. 2016 Jul 7/19/2016; 45(1): 119-30. PMID: 27438769, PMCID: PMC4957248, PII: S1074-7613(16)30243-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2016.06.021, ISSN: 1097-4180.

Swindell WR, Xing X, Fritz Y, Diaconu D, Simon DI, Ward NL, Gudjonsson JE. Deficiency of myeloid-related proteins 8 and 14 (Mrp8/Mrp14) does not block inflammaging but prevents steatosis. Oncotarget. 2016 Jun 6/14/2016; 7(24): 35535-51. PMID: 27224926, PMCID: PMC5094943, PII: 9550, DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.9550, ISSN: 1949-2553.

Li Y, Stoll SW, Sekhon S, Talsma C, Camhi MI, Jones JL, Lambert S, Marley H, Rittié L, Grachtchouk M, Fritz Y, Ward NL, Elder JT. Transgenic expression of human amphiregulin in mouse skin: inflammatory epidermal hyperplasia and enlarged sebaceous glands. Exp Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2016 Mar; 25(3): 187-93. PMID: 26519132, PMCID: PMC4789112, DOI: 10.1111/exd.12886, ISSN: 1600-0625.

Golden JB, Wang Y, Fritz Y, Diaconu D, Zhang X, Debanne SM, Simon DI, McCormick TS, Ward NL. Chronic, not acute, skin-specific inflammation promotes thrombosis in psoriasis murine models. J Transl Med. 2015 Dec 12/16/2015; 13: 382. PMID: 26675482, PMCID: PMC4681031, PII: 10.1186/s12967-015-0738-z, DOI: 10.1186/s12967-015-0738-z, ISSN: 1479-5876.

Golden JB, Groft SG, Squeri MV, Debanne SM, Ward NL, McCormick TS, Cooper KD. Chronic Psoriatic Skin Inflammation Leads to Increased Monocyte Adhesion and Aggregation. J Immunol [print-electronic]. 2015 Sep 9/1/2015; 195(5): 2006-18. PMID: 26223654, PMCID: PMC4686256, PII: jimmunol.1402307, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1402307, ISSN: 1550-6606.

Ward NL. Introduction to a special issue on Skin disease, immune response and cytokines [editorial]. Cytokine [print-electronic]. 2015 Jun; 73(2): 309-10. PMID: 25850734, PMCID: PMC4437818, PII: S1043-4666(15)00125-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2015.03.008, ISSN: 1096-0023.

Peterson SC, Eberl M, Vagnozzi AN, Belkadi A, Veniaminova NA, Verhaegen ME, Bichakjian CK, Ward NL, Dlugosz AA, Wong SY. Basal cell carcinoma preferentially arises from stem cells within hair follicle and mechanosensory niches. Cell Stem Cell. 2015 Apr 4/2/2015; 16(4): 400-12. PMID: 25842978, PMCID: PMC4387376, PII: S1934-5909(15)00062-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2015.02.006, ISSN: 1875-9777.

Ward NL, Bhagathavula N, Johnston A, Dawes SM, Fu W, Lambert S, Dame MK, Warner RL, Gudjonsson JE, Varani J, Elder JT. Erlotinib-induced skin inflammation is IL-1 mediated in KC-Tie2 mice and human skin organ culture [letter]. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2015 Mar; 135(3): 910-3. PMID: 25310408, PMCID: PMC4323891, PII: S0022-202X(15)37165-7, DOI: 10.1038/jid.2014.445, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Lundberg KC, Fritz Y, Johnston A, Foster AM, Baliwag J, Gudjonsson JE, Schlatzer D, Gokulrangan G, McCormick TS, Chance MR, Ward NL. Proteomics of skin proteins in psoriasis: from discovery and verification in a mouse model to confirmation in humans. Mol Cell Proteomics [print-electronic]. 2015 Jan; 14(1): 109-19. PMID: 25351201, PMCID: PMC4288247, PII: S1535-9476(20)31666-2, DOI: 10.1074/mcp.M114.042242, ISSN: 1535-9484.

Ward NL, Umetsu DT. A new player on the psoriasis block: IL-17A- and IL-22-producing innate lymphoid cells. J Invest Dermatol. 2014 Sep; 134(9): 2305-7. PMID: 25120146, PMCID: PMC4134095, PII: S0022-202X(15)36955-4, DOI: 10.1038/jid.2014.216, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Foster AM, Baliwag J, Chen CS, Guzman AM, Stoll SW, Gudjonsson JE, Ward NL, Johnston A. IL-36 promotes myeloid cell infiltration, activation, and inflammatory activity in skin. J Immunol [print-electronic]. 2014 Jun 6/15/2014; 192(12): 6053-61. PMID: 24829417, PMCID: PMC4048788, PII: jimmunol.1301481, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301481, ISSN: 1550-6606.

Diaconu D, Fritz Y, Dawes SM, Loyd CM, Ward NL. VEGF-Trap decreases CD4+ T cells, Th17 cytokines improving psoriasis-like skin inflammation in KC-Tie2 mice [letter]. J Dermatol Sci [print-electronic]. 2013 Dec; 72(3): 322-5. PMID: 24005035, PMCID: PMC3926202, PII: S0923-1811(13)00280-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2013.08.005, ISSN: 1873-569X.

Golden JB, McCormick TS, Ward NL. IL-17 in psoriasis: implications for therapy and cardiovascular co-morbidities. Cytokine [print-electronic]. 2013 May; 62(2): 195-201. PMID: 23562549, PMCID: PMC3640599, PII: S1043-4666(13)00115-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2013.03.013, ISSN: 1096-0023.

Howell SJ, Mekhail MN, Azem R, Ward NL, Kern TS. Degeneration of retinal ganglion cells in diabetic dogs and mice: relationship to glycemic control and retinal capillary degeneration. Mol Vis [electronic-print]. 2013; 19: 1413-21. PMID: 23825921, PMCID: PMC3695756, ISSN: 1090-0535.

Wang Y, Gao H, Loyd CM, Fu W, Diaconu D, Liu S, Cooper KD, McCormick TS, Simon DI, Ward NL. Chronic skin-specific inflammation promotes vascular inflammation and thrombosis. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2012 Aug; 132(8): 2067-75. PMID: 22572815, PMCID: PMC3402600, PII: S0022-202X(15)35857-7, DOI: 10.1038/jid.2012.112, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Silver R, Helms A, Fu W, Wang H, Diaconu D, Loyd CM, Rollins AM, Ward NL. Using optical coherence tomography for the longitudinal non-invasive evaluation of epidermal thickness in a murine model of chronic skin inflammation. Skin Res Technol [print-electronic]. 2012 May; 18(2): 225-31. PMID: 22092854, PMCID: PMC3319809, DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0846.2011.00558.x, ISSN: 1600-0846.

Loyd CM, Diaconu D, Fu W, Adams GN, Brandt E, Knutsen DA, Wolfram JA, McCormick TS, Ward NL. Transgenic overexpression of keratinocyte-specific VEGF and Ang1 in combination promotes wound healing under nondiabetic but not diabetic conditions. Int J Clin Exp Pathol [print-electronic]. 2012; 5(1): 1-11. PMID: 22295141, PMCID: PMC3267480, ISSN: 1936-2625.

Ostrowski SM, Belkadi A, Loyd CM, Diaconu D, Ward NL. Cutaneous denervation of psoriasiform mouse skin improves acanthosis and inflammation in a sensory neuropeptide-dependent manner. J Invest Dermatol [print-electronic]. 2011 Jul; 131(7): 1530-8. PMID: 21471984, PMCID: PMC3116081, PII: S0022-202X(15)35344-6, DOI: 10.1038/jid.2011.60, ISSN: 1523-1747.

Ward NL, Loyd CM, Wolfram JA, Diaconu D, Michaels CM, McCormick TS. Depletion of antigen-presenting cells by clodronate liposomes reverses the psoriatic skin phenotype in KC-Tie2 mice. Br J Dermatol. 2011 Apr; 164(4): 750-8. PMID: 21070202, PMCID: PMC3051033, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.10129.x, ISSN: 1365-2133.

Ward NL, Hatala DA, Wolfram JA, Knutsen DA, Loyd CM. Cutaneous manipulation of vascular growth factors leads to alterations in immunocytes, blood vessels and nerves: Evidence for a cutaneous neurovascular unit. J Dermatol Sci [print-electronic]. 2011 Jan; 61(1): 14-22. PMID: 21129919, PMCID: PMC3146964, PII: S0923-1811(10)00336-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2010.11.004, ISSN: 1873-569X.

Chen X, Fu W, Tung CE, Ward NL. Angiopoietin-1 induces neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells in a Tie2-independent, beta1-integrin-dependent manner. Neurosci Res [print-electronic]. 2009 Aug; 64(4): 348-54. PMID: 19379779, PMCID: PMC2730485, PII: S0168-0102(09)00120-5, DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2009.04.007, ISSN: 1872-8111.

Wolfram JA, Diaconu D, Hatala DA, Rastegar J, Knutsen DA, Lowther A, Askew D, Gilliam AC, McCormick TS, Ward NL. Keratinocyte but not endothelial cell-specific overexpression of Tie2 leads to the development of psoriasis. Am J Pathol. 2009 Apr; 174(4): 1443-58. PMID: 19342373, PMCID: PMC2671375, PII: S0002-9440(10)61001-2, DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2009.080858, ISSN: 1525-2191.

Montano MM, Doughman YQ, Deng H, Chaplin L, Yang J, Wang N, Zhou Q, Ward NL, Watanabe M. Mutation of the HEXIM1 gene results in defects during heart and vascular development partly through downregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor. Circ Res [print-electronic]. 2008 Feb 2/29/2008; 102(4): 415-22. PMID: 18079413, PMCID: PMC2905161, PII: CIRCRESAHA.107.157859, DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.107.157859, ISSN: 1524-4571.

Ward NL, Moore E, Noon K, Spassil N, Keenan E, Ivanco TL, LaManna JC. Cerebral angiogenic factors, angiogenesis, and physiological response to chronic hypoxia differ among four commonly used mouse strains. J Appl Physiol (1985) [print-electronic]. 2007 May; 102(5): 1927-35. PMID: 17234796, PII: 00909.2006, DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00909.2006, ISSN: 8750-7587.

LaManna JC, Sun X, Ivy AD, Ward NL. Is cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) a major component of the mechanism responsible for microvascular remodeling in the brain?. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2006; 578: 297-303. PMID: 16927708, DOI: 10.1007/0-387-29540-2_47, ISSN: 0065-2598.

Ward NL, Lamanna JC. The neurovascular unit and its growth factors: coordinated response in the vascular and nervous systems. Neurol Res. 2004 Dec; 26(8): 870-83. PMID: 15727271, DOI: 10.1179/016164104X3798, ISSN: 0161-6412.