Dr. Reese's laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms of embryo implantation and other aspects of reproduction. He is particularly focused on the contribution of prostaglandins and other eicosanoids to the reproductive process. Prostaglandins are key molecules in ovulation, fertilization, implantation, decidualization, and overall control of the parturition process. Dr. Reese has an extended research background in reproductive biology and the role of prostaglandins in reproduction and fetal vascular development. His lab uses Cox1, Cox2, cPLA2, prostaglandin receptor knockout mice, and other transgenic or pharmacologic models of prostaglandin deficiency. Their collaborative studies on the role of prostaglandins in cancer, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular homeostasis and neurobehavioral function reflect a broad-based approach to studies on prostaglandin biology.

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I have a broad background in cell and developmental biology, with specific training and expertise in manipulating the mouse embryo, making mouse knock-out/transgenic models and phenotype analysis on cardiovascular system. Defining these mechanisms will be the only way in which we will someday be able to prevent the diseases from occurring. Using state-of-the-art approaches, I have generated numerous conditional floxed mouse alleles including Tie1, Tie2, Ndrg4 and Ndrg2, and point mutant allele for Tie1. These animal models are valuable for understanding mechanisms of cardiac-vasculature development. My research at VUMC in the recent 10 years has focused primarily on the roles of two transmembrane protein receptor tyrosine kinases Tie1 and Tie2 in cardiovascular development including heart chamber formation, valve remodeling and lymphatic development and how understanding these developmental mechanisms can help us understand the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. 

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As a Clinical, Biochemical and Molecular Geneticist, Dr. Phillips has diagnosed, treated, and cared for children and adults with many genetic diseases, including congenital malformations, chromosomal, Mendelian, and metabolic disorders. He has been the principal investigator (PI) on clinical trials to treat Achondroplasia, Argininemia, Fatty Acid Oxidative Disorders, Methylmalonic Acidemia, and Phenylketonuria. These clinical trial studies contributed significant data that led to the FDA approval of four drugs to treat genetic disorders. As a clinician, Dr. Phillips contributes to the efforts of the Division of Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine which currently sees approximately 5,000 total genetic cases annually.

Dr. Phillips has been a Subject Editor for the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database (https://www.omim.org). He has been a Co-Director of and lecturer in the American College of Medical Genetics, Genetics Review Course from 2005-present. He has also been a lecturer in the Annual McKusick Short Course in Medical and Experimental Mammalian Genetics, Jackson Lab, Bar Harbor, Maine from 1977 to present.

Dr. Phillips' past research focused on Mendelian disorders that have heterogeneous causes, reduced penetrance, and variable expression (Familial Growth Hormone Deficiency, Hereditable Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, and Familial Pulmonary Fibrosis), as well as undiagnosed and many rare genetic diseases. He has shared in the discovery of multiple genetic disorders, the mechanisms underlying many, as well as the treatment of others. He is currently a Co-PI of the Vanderbilt Center for Undiagnosed Diseases (VCUD), a segment of the NIH Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN). He also sees patients referred to the new Vanderbilt Undiagnosed Diseases Program (VUDP). In a recent review, it was discovered that 33% of our UDN diagnoses were not solved exclusively by exome sequencing (ES), and several methods were needed to detect and/or confirm the functional effects of the DNA variants that were missed by ES, and in some cases by genome sequencing.