The influence of sex and timing in physiological systems

Imagine someone having a heart attack. Do you visualize the dramatic Hollywood portrayal of a heart attack, in which a man collapses, grabbing his chest in agony? Even though heart disease is the leading killer of women worldwide, the misconception that heart disease is a men’s disease has persisted. A dangerous misconceptions and risks women ignoring their own symptoms. Gender biases and false impressions are by no means limited to heart attack symptoms. Such prejudices exist throughout our healthcare system, from scientific research to disease diagnosis and treatment strategies. A goal of our research program is to address this gender equity, by identifying and disseminating insights into sex differences in health and disease, using computational modeling tools. Moreover, not only does sex influence cardiovascular disease, the timing of onset of acute cardiovascular events also exhibits circadian rhythms. Indeed, kidney function exhibits sex differences and circadian rhythms. How do the natriuretic and diuretic effects of diuretics, a common treatment for hypertension that targets the kidneys, differ between the sexes? And how do these effects vary during the day? To answer these questions (and more), we conduct computer simulations to assess the effects of sex and circadian rhythms.