George Edward Billman (born July 23, 1954) is an American physiologist and professor at Ohio State University. After receiving a Ph.D from the University of Kentucky in 1980, Billman began his professional career at the University of Oklahoma. In 1984, he joined the Ohio State staff, where he became an associate professor in 1990 and a full professor in 1996.
Billman's research has focused on cardiovascular function, in particular its role in the induction of ventricular fibrillation (VF). He developed non-invasive methods to study autonomic neural regulation of the heart, using a canine model of sudden cardiac death (SCD). These techniques have subsequently been used in human patients to identify people at high risk for VF. Billman has used his sudden cardiac death models to study the effects of exercise training on susceptibility to SCD and the effects of omega-3 fatty acids, among other things. Due to his use of live animals in experiments, Billman has been criticized by animal rights activists; however, a 2009 regulatory investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Early life and education
George Edward Billman was born on July 23, 1954, in Fort Worth, Texas. He attended Xavier University, graduating cum laude in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in natural science. He did his doctoral work at the University of Kentucky, earning a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics in 1980. From 1980–1982, Billman was a research associate under H. Lowell Stone at the University of Oklahoma.
Career
In 1982, Billman was promoted to Assistant Professor of Research at Oklahoma. In 1984, he accepted an assistant professor position at Ohio State University. He was promoted to associate professor in 1990 and made a full professor in 1996. Billman was elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association in 2001. In 2011, he was elected a Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society. He is also a member of The Physiological Society in London, the American Physiological Society, the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL), and Sigma Xi.
Billman has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology (2004–2007), Current Cardiology Reviews (2004–), Experimental Physiology (2006−2010), the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2001–), and the Journal of Applied Physiology (2007–). He was an associate editor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics from 1999–2014. In June 2014, he was selected as the editor-in-chief of the recently formed Frontiers in Physiology, a position he continues to hold as of 2014.
Billman consulted for Eli Lilly from 1987–1988, Glaxo from 1989–1991, Procter & Gamble from 1995–99. He has been a consultant for Sanofi Aventis since 1999.
Research
Billman's research has focused on cardiovascular physiology with an emphasis on ventricular fibrillation (VF) and the cardiovascular system's response to stress. His work has led to non-invasive (electrocardiograph) techniques to detect susceptibility to sudden cardiac death (SCD) in dogs. These electrocardiographic markers have subsequently been used clinically on humans. Billman has studied the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on the heart and circulatory system. He has also studied the effects of exercise training and novel pharmaceutics on the test subject's susceptibility to fatal cardiac arrhythmias. He has performed experiments on live research dogs and using isolated ventricular myocytes.
Model of sudden cardiac death
Billman developed a technique of inducing fatal ventricular fibrillation in dogs in the lab of H. Lowell Stone starting in 1980, and used and refined it over the next 25 years. The model subsequently has been described as "an elegant in vivo model of sudden cardiac death" by cardiologist Michel de Lorgeril et al. and "a highly reliable canine model of sudden cardiac death" by physiologist Alexander Leaf et al. The model is described in Springer's handbook of reliable procedures for testing the potential effects of new drug candidates in the antiarrhythmic section.