Dr James Armitage - Researcher Profile

Biography

Dr James Armitage is a Research Fellow with the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology.  He leads the Fetal Development and Adult Disease Laboratory, which studies how a mother’s diet in pregnancy affects the cardiovascular health of her offspring. 

James is a Heart Foundation Fellow, and a Monash Fellow.

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Institution: University of Melbourne

Year awarded: 2003

MASTER OF OPTOMETRY

Institution: University of Melbourne

Year awarded: 1999

BACHELOR OF OPTOMETRY

Institution: University of Melbourne

Year awarded: 1996

Publications

Book Chapters

Cullen-McEwen, L.A., Armitage, J.A., Nyengaard, J.R., Bertram, J.F., 2012, Estimating nephron number in the developing kidney using the physical disector/fractionator combination, in Methods in Molecular Biology - Kidney Development, eds O Michos, Humana Press, USA, pp. 109-119.

Prior, L.J., Head, G.A., Armitage, J.A., 2010, Experimental Models of Maternal Obesity and High-Fat Diet During Pregnancy and Programmed Obesity in the Offspring, in Obesity before Birth [Maternal and Prenatal Influences on the Offspring], eds RH Lustig, Springer Science+Business Media, USA, The Netherlands, Germany, UK, pp. 241-259.

Poston, L., Armitage, J., Taylor, P.D., 2006, Developmental programming of cardiovascular dysfuntion, in Early Life Origins of Health and Disease, eds EM Wintour and JA Owens, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown USA, pp. 121-129.

Poston, L., Torrens, C., Armitage, J.A., Hanson, M.A., 2006, The role of vascular dysfunction in developmental origins of health and disease: evidence from human and animal studies, in Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, eds P Gluckman and M Hanson, Cambridge University Press, New York USA, pp. 286-299.

Weisinger, R.S., Armitage, J.A., Burns, P., Sinclair, A.J., Vingrys, A.J., Weisinger, H.S., 2001, The role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in body fluid and energy homeostasis, in Fatty Acids: Physiological and Behavioral Functions, eds David I Mostofsky, Shlomo Yehuda, Norman Salem Jr., Humana Press Inc., Totowa USA, pp. 377-401.

Vingrys, A.J., Armitage, J.A., Weisinger, H.S., Bui, B.V., Sinclair, A.J., Weisinger, R.S., 2001, The role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in retinal function, in Fatty Acids: Physiological and Behavioral Functions, eds David I Mostofsky, Shlomo Yehuda and Norman Salem Jr., Humana Press Inc., Totowa USA, pp. 193-217.

Journal Articles

Eppel, G.A., Armitage, J., Eikelis, N., Head, G.A., Evans, R.G., 2013, Progression of cardiovascular and endocrine dysfunction in a rabbit model of obesity, Hypertension Research [P], vol E-pub, Nature Publishing Group, UK, pp. 1-8.

He, Z., Nguyen, C.T.O., Armitage, J.A., Vingrys, A.J., Bui, B.V., 2012, Blood pressure modifies retinal susceptibility to intraocular pressure elevation, PLoS ONE [P], vol 7, issue 2 (Art. ID: e31104), Public Library of Science, USA, pp. 1-9.

Lim, K.J., Burke, S.L., Armitage, J.A., Head, G.A., 2012, Comparison of blood pressure and sympathetic activity of rabbits in their home cage and the laboratory environment, Experimental Physiology [P], vol 97, issue 12, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, pp. 1263-1271.

Jamison, R.A., Armitage, J., Carberry, J.J., Kitchen, M.J., Hooper, S.B., Fouras, A., 2012, Functional imaging to understand biomechanics: a critical tool for the study of biology, pathology and the development of pharmacological solutions, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology [P], vol 13, issue 11, Bentham Science, SharJah United Arab Emirates, pp. 2128-2140.

Armitage, J.A., Burke, S.L., Prior, L.J., Barzel, B., Eikelis, N., Lim, K., Head, G.A., 2012, Rapid onset of renal sympathetic nerve activation in rabbits fed a high-fat diet, Hypertension [P], vol 60, issue 1, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA, pp. 163-171.

Chan, C., Moore, J., Budzyn, K., Guida, E., Diep, H., Vinh, A., Jones, E.S., Widdop, R.E., Armitage, J.A., Sakkal, S., Ricardo, S.D., Sobey, C.G., Drummond, G.R., 2012, Reversal of vascular macrophage accumulation and hypertension by a CCR2 antagonist in deoxycorticosterone/salt-treated mice, Hypertension [P], vol 60, issue 5, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA, pp. 1207-1212.

Henry, S., Barzel, B., Wood-Bradley, R., Burke, S., Head, G., Armitage, J., 2012, The developmental origins of obesity-related hypertension, Clinical And Experimental Pharmacology And Physiology [P], vol 39, issue 9, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 799-806.

Henry, S.L., Bensley, J.G., Wood-Bradley, R.J., Cullen-McEwen, L.A., Bertram, J.F., Armitage, J.A., 2012, White adipocytes: More than just fat depots, International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology [P], vol 44, issue 3, Pergamon, UK, pp. 435-440.

Jamison, R.A., Siu, K.K.W., Dubsky, S.E., Armitage, J., Fouras, A., 2012, X-ray velocimetry within the ex vivo carotid artery, Journal Of Synchrotron Radiation [P], vol 19, Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken NJ USA, pp. 1050-1055.

Cullen-McEwen, L.A., Armitage, J.A., Nyengaard, J.R., Moritz, K.M., Bertram, J.F., 2011, A design-based method for estimating glomerular number in the developing kidney, American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology [P], vol 300, issue 6, American Physiological Society, USA, pp. F1448-F1453.

Puelles, V.G., Zimanyi, M.A., Samuel, T., Hughson, M., Douglas-Denton, R., Bertram, J.F., Armitage, J.A., 2011, Estimating individual glomerular volume in the human kidney: clinical perspectives, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation [P], vol E, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 1-9.

Lim, K., Armitage, J., Stefanidis, A., Oldfield, B., Black, M., 2011, IUGR in the absence of postnatal "catch-up" growth leads to improved whole body insulin sensitivity in rat offspring, Pediatric Research [P], vol 70, issue 4, Nature Publishing Group, USA, pp. 339-344.

He, Z., Vingrys, A., Armitage, J.A., Bui, B.V., 2011, The role of blood pressure in glaucoma, Clinical and Experimental Optometry [P], vol 94, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, Australia, NZ, pp. 133-149.

Prior, L.J., Eikelis, N., Armitage, J., Davern, P.J., Burke, S.L., Montani, J., Barzel, B., Head, G.A., 2010, Exposure to a high-fat diet alters leptin sensitivity and elevates renal sympathetic nerve activity and arterial pressure in rabbits, Hypertension [P], vol 55, issue 4, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA, pp. 862-868.

Weisinger, R.S., Armitage, J., Chen, N., Begg, D.P., Mathai, M.L., Jayasooriya, A.P., Sinclair, A.J., Weisinger, H.S., 2010, Sodium appetite in adult rats following omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid deficiency in early development, Appetite [P], vol 55, issue 3, Elsevier BV, The Netherlands, pp. 393-397.

Michaels, S., Eppel, G.A., Burke, S.L., Head, G.A., Armitage, J., Carroll, J.F., Malpas, S.C., Evans, R.G., 2009, Altered responsiveness of the kidney to activation of the renal nerves in fat-fed rabbits, American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, vol 296, issue 6, American Physiological Society, USA, pp. R1889-R1896.

Prior, L.J., Armitage, J., 2009, Neonatal overfeeding leads to developmental programming of adult obesity: you are what you ate, Journal Of Physiology-London [P], vol 587, issue 11, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, p. 2419.

Elisaia, A., Barzel, B., Wood-Bradley, R., Henry, S., Cullen-McEwen, L.A., Bertram, J.F., Armitage, J., 2009, The role of maternal diet in programming obesity, hypertension and metabolic disease and its relevance to the Western Pacific population, Samoa Medical Journal [P], vol 1, issue 1, Oceania University of Medicine, Samoa, pp. 8-15.

Armitage, J., Gupta, S., Woods, C., Jensen, R.I., Samuelsson, A., Fuller, W., Shattock, M.J., Poston, L., Taylor, P.D., 2008, Maternal dietary supplementation with saturated, but not monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids, leads to tissue-specific inhibition of offspring Na+,K+-ATPase, The Journal of Physiology, vol 586, issue 20, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., United Kingdom, pp. 5013-5022.

Armitage, J., Poston, L., Taylor, P.D., 2007, Developmental origins of obesity and the metabolic syndrome: The role of maternal obesity, Frontiers of Hormone Research, vol 36, S. Karger AG, Switzerland, pp. 73-84.

Armitage, J., Ishibashi, A., Balachandran, A.A., Jensen, R.I., Poston, L., Taylor, P., 2007, Programmed aortic dysfunction and reduced Na+,K +-ATPase activity present in first generation offspring of lard-fed rats does not persist to the second generation, Experimental Physiology, vol 92, issue 3, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England UK, pp. 583-589.

Douglas, G., Armitage, J., Taylor, P.D., Lawson, J.R., Mann, G.E., Poston, L., 2006, Cardiovascular consequences of life-long exposure to dietary isoflavones in the rat, The Journal of Physiology, vol 571, issue 2, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 477-487.

Li, D., Weisinger, H.S., Weisinger, R.S., Mathai, M., Armitage, J., Vingrys, A., Sinclair, A.J., 2006, Omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acid imbalance early in life leads to persistent reductions in DHA levels in glycerophospholipids in rat hypothalamus even after long-term omega 3 fatty acid repletion, Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, vol 74, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh Scotland, pp. 391-399.

Armitage, J., Lakasing, L., Taylor, P.D., Balachandran, A.A., Jensen, R.I., Dekou, V., Ashton, N., Nyengaard, J.R., Poston, L., 2005, Developmental programming of aortic and renal structure in offspring of rats fed fat-rich diets in pregnancy, Journal of Physiology, vol 565, issue 1, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 171-184.

Armitage, J., Taylor, P.D., Poston, L., 2005, Experimental models of developmental programming: consequences of exposure to an energy rich diet during development, Journal of Physiology, vol 565, issue 1, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 3-8.

Armitage, J., Khan, I.Y., Taylor, P.D., Nathanielsz, P.W., Poston, L., 2004, Developmental programming of the metabolic syndrome by maternal nutritional imbalance: how strong is the evidence from experimental models in mammals?, Journal of Physiology - London, vol 561, issue 2, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 355-377.

Bui, B.V., Armitage, J.A., Tolcos, M., Cooper, M.E., Vingrys, A.J., 2003, ACE inhibition salvages the visual loss caused by diabetes, Diabetologia, vol 46, issue 3, Springer, New York USA, pp. 401-408.

Armitage, J.A., Pearce, A.D., Sinclair, A.J., Vingrys, A.J., Weisinger, R.S., Weisinger, H.S., 2003, Increased blood pressure later in life may be associated with perinatal n-3 fatty acid deficiency, Lipids, vol 38, issue 4, American Oil Chemists Society AOCS Press, Champaign USA, pp. 459-464.

Bui, B.V., Rees, S.M., Loeliger, M., Caddy, J., Rehn, A.H., Armitage, J.A., Vingrys, A.J., 2002, Altered retinal function and structure after chronic placental insufficiency, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, vol 43, issue 3, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Rockville USA, pp. 805-812.

Bui, B.V., Armitage, J.A., Vingrys, A.J., 2002, Extraction and modelling of oscillatory potentials, Documenta Ophthalmologica, vol 104, issue 1, Springer, Dordrecht The Netherlands, pp. 17-36.

Weisinger, H.S., Armitage, J.A., Jeffrey, B.G., Mitchell, D.C., Moriguchi, T., Sinclair, A.J., Weisinger, R.S., Salem Jr., N., 2002, Retinal sensitivity loss in third-generation n-3 PUFA-deficient rats, Lipids, vol 37, issue 8, American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) Press, Champaign USA, pp. 759-765.

Weisinger, H.S., Armitage, J., Sinclair, A.J., Vingrys, A., Burns, P., Weisinger, R.S., 2001, Perinatal omega-3 fatty acid deficiency affects blood pressure later in life, Nature Medicine, vol 7, issue 3, Nature Publishing Group, New York USA, pp. 258-259.

Armitage, J., Bui, B.V., Gibson, R., Vingrys, A., 2001, Postnatal development of flicker sensitivity in guinea pigs, Clinical and Experimental Optometry, vol 84, issue 5, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 270-275.

Bui, B.V., Armitage, J., Fletcher, E.L., Richardson, S.J., Schreiber, G., Vingrys, A., 2001, Retinal anatomy and function of the transthyretin null mouse, Experimental Eye Research, vol 73, issue 5, Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd, London England, pp. 651-659.

Nixon, P.J., Bui, B.V., Armitage, J., Vingrys, A., 2001, The contribution of cone responses to rat electroretinograms, Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, vol 29, issue 3, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford England, pp. 193-196.

Conference Proceedings

Wong, Y.K., Akulshin, O., Armitage, J., Fouras, A., Sheard, G., 2012, Effect of red blood cell stiffness on flow profiles in microchannels, Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, 3 December 2012 to 7 December 2012, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society, Parkville Vic Australia, pp. 1-4.

Hough, J., Assemat, P., Siu, K.K.W., Armitage, J., Contreras, K.G., Aprico, A., Andrews, K.L., Dart, A.M., Chin-Dusting, J.P., Hourigan, K., 2012, Three-dimensional numerical simulations of pulsatile blood flow in mouse aortic arch around atherosclerotic plaques, Proceedings of the Eighteenth Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, 3 December 2012 to 7 December 2012, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society, Launceston Tasmania, pp. 1-4.

Grants

Title:

A neurogenic basis of obesity hypertension: role of leptin and ghrelin in the regulation of sympathetic vasomotor activity.

Investigators:

Armitage, J

Funding:

(2007 - 2011). Heart Foundation. $122,686.00

Title:

A vicious cycle involving adipokines, oxidative stress and renal sympathetic neuroeffector dysfunction in obesity.

Investigators:

Evans, R, Head, G, Denton, K, Haynes, J, Armitage, J

Funding:

(2009 - 2012). Heart Foundation. $129,000.00

Title:

DEXA body composition and bone density analysis suite.

Investigators:

Clarke, I, Mitchell, C, Cowley, M, Tiganis, T, Oldfield, B, Rosa, M, Walker, D, Lackmann, M, Watt, M, Armitage, J, Denton, K, Evans, R, Kett, M, Brown, R, Tilbrook, A, Andrews, Z, Smith, J, Spencer, S, Strauss, B, Simpson, E, Williams, B

Funding:

(2009 - 2013). National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC). $220,000.00

Title:

How might exposure to maternal fat rich diets during development programme the development obesity related hypertension?.

Investigators:

Armitage, J

Funding:

(2007 - 2011). Monash University. $244,000.00

Title:

Maternal obesity programmes obesity related hypertension in the offspring; Role of the sympathetic nervous system.

Investigators:

Armitage, J, Head, G, Davern, P

Funding:

(2011 - 2015). Heart Foundation. $130,000.00

Title:

Nephron endowment: Are more nephrons necessarily better?.

Investigators:

Bertram, J, Kett, M, Caruana, G, Armitage, J

Funding:

(2010 - 2013). Heart Foundation. $129,000.00

Title:

Understanding the contribution of sympathetic overactivity to maternally programmed obesity related hypertension.

Investigators:

Armitage, J, Davern, P, Head, G

Funding:

(2013 - 2017). National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC). $538,569.54

Title:

Ocular perfusion pressure: a modifiable risk factor for Glaucoma?.

Investigators:

Armitage, J, Bui, B, Vingrys, A

Funding:

(2009 - 2013). National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC). $15,000.00

Title:

How does maternal diet during programme offspring obesity related hypertension; A pivotal role for the sympathetic nervous system.

Investigators:

Armitage, J, Head, G

Funding:

(2011 - 2015). Heart Foundation. $128,500.00

(2012 - 2017). Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. -$65,000.00

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(MASTER'S BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Effects of stiffened red blood cells on mechanics of blood flow in microcirculation.

Supervisors:

Sheard, G (Main), Armitage, J (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Hypothalamic origins of obesity related hypertension.

Supervisors:

Armitage, J (Main), Head, G (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Identifying potential therapeutics for pre-eclapsia.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Main), Armitage, J (Associate), Wallace, E (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

The effects of diabetes in pregnancy on offspring kidney development and adult health.

Supervisors:

Cullen-Mcewen, L (Main), Armitage, J (Associate), Bertram, J (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Elisaia-Vaai, A.

Program of Study:

Developmental Origins of Obesity Related Hypertension. 2009.

Supervisors:

Armitage, J (Main), Rice, G (Associate).