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Who is Thomas Pressley?
From Ecologist to Physiologist


Thomas A. Pressley was born in Baltimore, Maryland. For as long as he can remember, he’s enjoyed science. Of course, it probably helped that he read a great deal of “hard” science fiction, such as the stories of Arthur C. Clarke. Tom always imagined that he would be some type of professor when he grew up. The life of an academic just seemed to appeal to him from an early age. With his interest in science, it was natural that he decided on a career as an investigator in a big university. 

Deciding What to Study
Tom grew up in a small suburb between Baltimore and Annapolis in Maryland. When it came time for college, he was fortunate that there was a very good university close to where he lived. He decided to go to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Even though his friends all referred to him as a “townie” (because he lived in the area), Johns Hopkins University proved to be a wonderful experience. Tom focused on ecology, thinking that he wanted to be a marine biologist. In the late 1970s, however, so did nearly everybody else, and it was very difficult to find openings in graduate school programs. His minor was in cell biology, and graduate programs were much more interested in recruiting him as a biochemistry student. He decided to go to graduate school at the Medical University of South Carolina, because they were willing to work with him to combine his two interests.  

Discovering Physiology
When Tom entered graduate school, he was interested in how the biochemistry of organisms changes in response to different environments. This was his way of reconciling his training in ecology with a graduate program in biochemistry. He focused on salinity acclimation in estuarine species, such as crabs. As he progressed in his studies, he found that more and more of the questions he was asking were best addressed by looking at the interactions between different systems within the crabs. Although he graduated with a degree in biochemistry, he realized that his work had more in common with that of the physiologists he knew. Once he had his degree, Dr. Pressley went for postdoctoral training at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York. There that feeling was reinforced for him, because he worked with Isidore Edelman, whose laboratory was well-known for combining biochemistry and physiology.

How to Find a Job
At the time that Dr. Pressley was completing his postdoctoral training, there were two options available for people wanting to continue in research: academia or industry. As when he was a child, he still was really only interested in a position in academia. He was fortunate to find one without too much trouble.

When he was looking for his first faculty position, it certainly helped that he was coming from a well-known and respected laboratory. Nevertheless, it was his attendance at many scientific meetings that enabled him to make the contacts necessary to find the job opportunities. He became aware of a position at University of Texas at Houston because some members of that department encouraged him to apply while visiting his poster at a meeting. He got the job and became a junior faculty member. Later, when he began thinking about moving on, again it was his colleagues who kept him informed of possibilities. He is now a Professor of Physiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Being a Physiologist
Dr. Pressley’s primary responsibility is to conduct physiological research as head of a group of colleagues, postdoctoral fellows, technicians, and students. Since the early part of this century, physiologists have known that the interior of most animal cells is enriched in K+ and depleted in Na+ relative to the extracellular fluid. This distribution of ions is produced by the Na,K-pump, an intrinsic membrane protein complex that extrudes Na+ from the cell and absorbs K+ from the exterior at the expense of metabolic energy. Its turnover and the resulting ionic gradients are responsible for the potential difference across the cell membrane and indirectly control ionic balance, cellular volume, and epithelial transport. Dr. Pressley’s work is focused on the function and regulation of the pump and related transporters. In pursuing these studies, he is trying to understand both how the cell controls the central problem of ion movement across the cell membrane and the structures within the pump that mediate that control.

As a professor in a medical school, Dr. Pressley also has the responsibility to teach basic science to first-year medical students, as well as to graduate students in various disciplines.

Over the years, he has also acquired various administrative duties. He is currently the head of the graduate program for his department. In addition, he serves on various committees at the institutional level, including the Student Affairs Committee at Texas Tech. On the national level, he is one of 12 members to serve on the APS Education Committee.

For Fun
Dr. Pressley has an avid interest in aviation. He spends a lot of his free time flying gliders, which he learned how to do while he was living in Houston. The Lubbock area of West Texas is world-famous for conditions that are friendly to gliders, and pilots come from around the globe to fly here. He is also a computer buff and has become his department’s unofficial computer expert, offering advice on software, hardware, and networking. Each summer, he combines his interests in computers and gliding by volunteering as a scorekeeper at various glider competitions around the country. He is also the official soaring record keeper for the State of Texas, which means that pilots who think they’ve set a new State Record must submit all their flight documentation to him for evaluation.

On a more serious side, Dr. Pressley also is interested in international relations. Training in New York City gave him the opportunity to make friends from all over the world, and he has retained an interest in other cultures. He spent a five-month sabbatical in France in 2002, learning about the education system and advising students on the opportunities for study and research in the US. 

Advice for New Investigators
When I was a junior faculty member, I found it very hard to maintain a balance between my research and my other academic duties. At most universities, questions of tenure and promotion depend strongly on research productivity, so it is natural that this is the primary focus. When I was working hard on a problem, I became nearly oblivious to everything else. It was easy to lose sight of the teaching when things were busy in the lab, and when teaching, it was easy to neglect the needs of the research. Maybe the best approach is to focus initially on research problems that will pay off relatively quickly, so that a history of productivity can be developed quickly.

Recent Publications
1. Carr, D.L., F. Laharrague, B. Kahn, T.A. Pressley, and J.A. Carr. Molecular characterization of a putative sodium/iodide symporter in the South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 986: 711-712, 2003.

2. Pierre, S.V., M.J. Duran, D.L. Carr, and T.A. Pressley. Structure/function analysis of Na+-K+-ATPase central isoform-specific region: Involvement in PKC regulation. Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol 283: F1066–F1074, 2002.

3. Lodato, R.F., A.R. Khan, M.J. Zembowicz, N.W. Weisbrodt, T.A. Pressley, Y.-F. Li, J.A. Lodato, A. Zembowicz, and F.G. Moody. Roles of IL-1 and TNF in the decreased ileal muscle contractility induced by lipopolysaccharide. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest Liver Physiol 276:G1356-G1362, 1999.