Brief Biography

Dr. Belik completed general paediatrics residency and neonatal-perinatal fellowship training in the United States and moved to Canada in 1983. Following appointments with the Universities of Manitoba and Calgary,  Belik moved to Toronto in 2001 to join The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto.

Research Interests

• Developmental changes in pulmonary vascular resistance
• Cardiovascular changes during the transition from fetal to postnatal life
• Persistent pulmonary hypertension syndrome of the newborn (PPHN Syndrome)
• Airway-pulmonary vascular cross-talk
• Oxidative stress and the pulmonary vasculature
• Ventilation-induced lung injury
• Maturational changes in the control of airway resistance

Research Activities

Belik's research interests are primarily focused on the contribution of pulmonary vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells to the control of pulmonary vascular resistance during development and following the onset of neonatal pulmonary hypertension. 

He and his team have been actively studying the biophysical and biochemical changes in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle contractile and relaxant properties and their impact on the control of pulmonary vascular resistance. Belik’s laboratory utilizes several animal models of pulmonary hypertension of the newborn to evaluate the signaling pathways responsible for the pathogenesis of this clinical condition.
The role of oxidative stress in the regulation of pulmonary vascular resistance has  been a recent focus of interest of Belik’s research team.Studies addressing the pulmonary vascular endothelium in the preferential generation of nitric oxide, as opposed to reactive oxygen species and the role of tetrahydrobiopterin and arginases on in this process  are currently underway.

Lastly,  the maturationally-dependent role of endoglin and Alk1 in the regulation of  pulmonary vascular resistance is another area of research interest in Belik’s laboratory.

Future Research Interests

Pursuit of novel approaches for the prevention, early diagnosis and successful treatment of neonates with pulmonary hypertension.

External Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (CIHR) and private industry.

Publications

Belik J, McIntyre B A S, Pan J, Grasemann H, Vasquez-Vivar J. Pulmonary Hypertension in the Newborn GTP-Cyclohydrolase I-Deficient Mouse:  Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 2011: 51 pp2227-2233.

Mirjana Jerkic; Mohammed G. Kabir; Adrienne Davies; Lisa X. Yu; Brendan A.S. McIntyre; Nasir W. Husain; Masahiro Enomoto; Valentin Sotov; Mansoor Husain; Mark Henkelman; Jaques Belik; Michelle Letarte Pulmonary hypertension in adult Alk1 heterozygous mice due to oxidative stress. Cardiovascular Research 2011:92 pp375-384.

Scott J A, North M L, Rafii M, Huang H, Pencharz P, Subbarao P, Belik J, Grasemann H:  Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Contributes to the Airways Hyperresponsiveness in Asthma.  American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine. 2011: 184 pp 779-785.

Al-Saleh S, Phillip J, Letarte M, Faughnan M, Belik, J, Felix R: Severe Symptomatic Liver Arteriovenous Malformations in Neonatal Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Pediatrics 2011:127 pp e1615-1620.   

Weinmann A, Post M, Pan J, Rafii M, O'Connor D, Unger S, Pencharz P, Belik J: Tetrahydrobiopterin is Present in High Quantity in Human Milk and has a Vasorelaxing Effect on Newborn Rat Mesenteric Arteries.  Pediatric Research 2011:  69: pp 325-329.   

Belik J, Stevens D, Pan J, McIntyre B A S, Kantores C, Ivanovska J, Xu E Z, Ibrahim C, Panama B K, Backx P H, McNamara P J, Jankov R P:  Pulmonary Vascular & Cardiac Effects of Peroxynitrite Decomposition in Normal & Hypoxia-Exposed Newborn Rats.  Free Radical Biology & Medicine 2010:  49: pp 1306-1314.

Ivanecky I, Belik J:  Prenatal Arginase Changes and Fetal Oxygenation. The Open Nitric Oxide Journal 2010:  2: pp 77-82

Belik J, Gema E, Luis G, Perez Vizcaino F, Villamor E: Isoprostanes in Fetal and Neonatal Health and Disease. Free Radical Biology & Medicine 2010: 48: pp 177-188.  

Toporsian M, Jerkic M, Zhou Y-Q, Kabir MG, Yu LX, McIntyre BAS, Davis A, Wang YJ, Stewart DJ, Belik J, Husain M, Henkelman M, Letarte M. Spontaneous adult-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension due to increased endothelial oxidative stress in a murine model of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.  Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 30: 509-51 , 2010

Belik J, Stevens D, Pan J, Shehnaz D, Ibrahim C, Kantores C, Ivanovska J, Grasemann H, Jankov RP. Chronic hypercapnia downregulates arginase expression and activity and increases pulmonary arterial smooth muscle relaxation in the newborn rat. Am.J.Physiol Lung Cell Mol.Physiol 297 (4):L777-L784, 2009.

Masood A, Yi M, Lau M, Belcastro R, Shek S, Pan J, Kantores C, McNamara PJ, Kavanagh BP, Belik J, Jankov RP, Tanswell AK.  Therapeutic effects of hypercapnia on chronic lung injury and vascular remodeling in neonatal rats. Am.J.Physiol Lung Cell Mol.Physiol 297 (5):L920-L930, 2009.

Belik J, Jerkic M, McIntyre BAS, Pan J, Leen J, Toporsian M, Letarte M. Age-dependent endothelial nitric oxide synthase uncoupling in pulmonary arteries of endoglin heterozygous mice. Am.J.Physiol Lung Cell Mol.Physiol 297 (6):L1170-L1178, 2009.

Belik J. Riociguat, an oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Curr.Opin.Investig.Drugs 10 (9):971-979, 2009.

Belik J, Shehnaz D, Pan J, Grasemann H. Developmental changes in arginase expression and activity in the lung. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 294:L498-504, 2008.