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Cardiology

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John A. Morrison, PhD

Appointment

Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Research)

Email

john.morrison@cchmc.org

Phone

513-636-8484

Fax

513-636-3952

Bio

Since 1973, John A. Morrison, PhD, has conducted research in pediatric risk factors for adult coronary heart disease (e.g., cholesterol, blood pressure, obesity). A special focus of his work has been on adolescent changes in these factors, the familial clustering of these factors, and the influence of smoking, diet, exercise, and the family history of heart disease on these factors.

These early studies helped define normal ranges in children for cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the so-called good cholesterol, HDL) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (the so-called bad cholesterol, LDL) and showed that levels of these factors tend to "run" or cluster in families.

Subsequent studies have showed that pubertal changes body mass and sex hormones lead to the marked changes in males' cholesterol profiles at this period that result in the increased risk for heart disease in males compared to females.

A 10-year study Dr. Morrison directed with collaborators from other centers on the East and West coasts has helped identify different factors contributing to the different rates for the development of obesity in adolescent black and white girls and its effects on heart disease risk factors. This project seeks to explain why heart disease rates are twice as high in black women compared to white women. It has led to additional grants using the same cohort of girls by colleagues.

Current work focuses on several areas:

  1. Research into the antioxidant, serum glutathione, as a possible risk factor for coronary heat disease. This is important because the known risk factors explain only about half of new heart disease cases. Our recent paper in the journal, Circulation (November 1999) showed that the adolescent boys whose fathers had premature heart disease had significantly lower glutathione levels than did age-matched controls.
  2. Research into how risk factors change from childhood into the 30s and 40s of life in black and white, men and women and how the family clustering of these factors changes from the period of shared household to the period of separate households. These studies are looking at the contribution of diet, smoking, exercise, body mass, the family history of heart disease and genes to these changes.
  3. Research into the management of weight gain associated with a new class of drugs (psychotropics) that treat psychiatric illnesses more effectively than the older drugs and with fewer side effects, but with the draw back of excessive weight gain in as many as half of patients. Preliminary results of our attempts to manage the weight gain with a drug developed for another purpose have been very encouraging

Credentials

PhD: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1977.

Research

Early identification of identifying children at increased risk, so preventive efforts can begin.

Research Grants and Contracts

  • Principal investigator, American Heart Association (National), 25-Year Tracking of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: The
    Princeton Lipid Study Revisited.
  • Prinicpal investigator, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Longitudinal LDL-C Studies in Black and White Families.
  • Co-investigator, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Divergence of Blood Pressure by Race in Adolescent Girls.

Professional Organization Memberships

Related Areas

This person works in these other areas at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: