David Averill, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

At present, I am the most recent addition to the faculty in the Department of Physiology at Ross University School of Medicine.  I received a B.S. in chemistry from Kent State University in 1970 and I was awarded my Ph.D. degree from the University of Washington in 1981.

I joined the faculty of the Department of Physiology at Ross University School of Medicine in August of 2006.  Prior to accepting this position, I was an associate professor in the Hypertension and Vascular Disease Center and in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine from 1992 to 2006.  While I was a faculty at WFUSM the majority of my effort was directed to research activities in the field of cardiovascular regulation of blood pressure and the causes of hypertension.  My research focused on the various roles of the renin-angiotensin system in the control of blood pressure both in the context of normal physiology and pathophysiology such as hypertension and heart failure.  I have been interested in the actions of angiotensin peptides on neural mechanisms and pathways involved in the control of the autonomic nervous system and baroreceptor reflex control of autonomic outflow and regulation of blood pressure.  To accomplish these research objectives, I conducted investigations in a variety of animal species including rats, mice, and sheep.  During my tenure as a faculty member at WFUSM, I was also active in teaching to medical and graduate students as well as undergraduate students who expressed an interest in obtaining a hands-on exposure to medical research.  As an instructor to medical and graduate students I provided lectures on cardiovascular physiology.  I was also actively involved as facilitator for small groups of medical students involved in problem-based learning.  My interactions with medical students, graduate students, and undergraduate students also included hands-on instruction in various laboratory techniques, skills, and instrumentation used in integrative physiology.

With my new appointment at Ross University School of Medicine, I look forward to pursuing research activities which will focus on regulation of blood pressure in a variety of human populations indigenous to the island of Dominica.  As a new faculty member at Ross University I plan to incorporate much of my past research experience in my explanations of how we assess various clinical situations related to normal and abnormal function of the cardiovascular system.  I also look forward to participating in small group problem-based learning here at Ross University School of Medicine.  As a facilitator in this form of medical education I hope to instill in future physicians a logical reasoning process that underlies the daily management of medicine.

Although I am dedicated to my profession as a teacher and researcher in the field of medicine and cardiovascular physiology, I have a number of outside interests.  Foremost is my family which resides at various locations across the world and United States.  I am also an avid SCUBA diver and bicyclist (road and mountain).