Research Interests

• Cardiovascular health, aging, and habitual exercise in Hispanic adults
• Effects of aging, cardiometabolic risk factors, and physical activity on vascular endothelial function

• 1997, B.S., University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL
• 2000, M.S., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Manuscripts

• BC Schiller, YG Casas, BL Tracy, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Age-related declines in knee extensor strength and performance in sedentary Caucasian and Hispanic women. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 55A: B563-B569, 2000.


• YG Casas, BC Schiller, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Total and regional body composition across age in healthy hispanic and caucasian women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 73:13-18, 2001.


• BC Schiller, YG Casas, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Maximal aerobic capacity across age in healthy hispanic and caucasian women. Journal of Applied Physiology, 91:1048-1054, 2001.


• GL Hoetzer, BL Stauffer, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, DT Smith, CA DeSouza. Influence of oral contraceptive use on endothelial t-PA release in healthy premenopausal women. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 2003 Jan ;284(1):E90-5

• YG Casas, BC Schiller, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Adiposity across age in healthy Hispanic and Caucasian women of similar socio-economic status. The FASEB Journal 13:A223.13, 1999. Presented at the 1999 Experimental Biology annual meeting in Washington D.C.


• YG Casas, BC Schiller, BL Tracy, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Age-related declines in leg strength and performance in sedentary hispanic and caucasian women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 31:S255, 1999. Presented at the 1999 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Seattle, WA.


• BC Schiller, YG Casas, CA DeSouza, DR Seals. Similar age-related declines in maximal aerobic capacity in sedentary hispanic and caucasian women. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 31:S288, 1999. Presented at the 1999 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Seattle, WA.


• SD Blackett, DT Smith, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, H Tanaka, DR Seals, CA DeSouza. Greater endothelium-dependent vasodilation in endurance-trained vs sedentary postmenopausal women. The Physiologist 43:349, 2000. Presented at the 2000 Integrative Biology of Exercise meeting in Portland, ME.


• DT Smith, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, H Tanaka, CA DeSouza. Lower circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-1Ra and IL-6 in endurance-trained postmenopausal women. The Physiologist 43:322, 2000. Presented at the 2000 Integrative Biology of Exercise meeting in Portland, ME.


• GL Hoetzer, BL Stauffer, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, DT Smith, CA DeSouza. Impaired endothelial vasodilator response to muscarinic but not ?-adrenoceptor stimulation in older men. The FASEB Journal 15:886.8, 2001. Presented at the 2001 Experimental Biology annual meeting in Orlando, FL.


• DT Smith, JJ Greiner, GL Hoetzer, SD Blackett, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Greater endothelial release of tissue plasminogen activator in endurance-trained vs sedentary middle-aged and older men. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33:S270, 2001. Presented at the 2001 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Baltimore, MD.


• DT Smith, JJ Greiner, GL Hoetzer, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Impaired endothelial t-PA release in obese/insulin resistant men. Presented at the American Diabetes Association; Understanding the Metabolic Syndrome: Effect on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Symposium. Tempe, AR, December, 2001.


• DT Smith, JJ Greiner, GL Hoetzer, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Capacity of the vascular endothelium to release tissue-type plasminogen activator declines with age in healthy adult humans. Presented at the 2002 Experimental Biology annual meeting in New Orleans, LA.


• GL Hoetzer, DT Smith, JJ Greiner, M Ng, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Influence of oral contraception on endothelial release of tissue-type plasminogen activator in vivo. Presented at the 2002 Experimental Biology annual meeting in New Orleans, LA.


• JJ Greiner, SD Blackett, YG Casas, GL Hoetzer, DT Smith, KL Moreau, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Nitric oxide bioavailabity and hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women. To be presented at the 2002 Experimental Biology annual meeting in New Orleans, LA.


• GP Van Guilder, CM Westby, GL Hoetzer, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Regular Aerobic Exercise Alleviates the Age-Related Increase in Endothelin-1 Mediated Vasoconstrictor Tone. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 26(5) e53, 2006. Presented at the annual Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology meeting, Denver, CO, 2006.


• GP Van Guilder, GL Hoetzer, CM Westby, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, and CA DeSouza. Effects of Vitamin C Supplementation on Endogenous Endothelin-1 Vasoconstrictor Activity in Overweight/obese Adults. Vascular Medicine, 11: S1, 2007. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 2006.


• CM Westby, GP Van Guilder, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, and CA DeSouza. Endothelin Receptor Blockade Improves Endothelium-dependent Vasodilation in Older Men. Vascular Medicine, 11: S1, 2007. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 2006.


• CM Westby, GP Van Guilder, JJ Greiner, YG Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza. Endothelin-1 receptor blockade improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation in obese adults. Circulation, 115(8): e214, 2007. Presented at the 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in association with the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism.