Rate My Professor Wayne Orr

A. Wayne Orr, PhD, is Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology and Translational Pathobiology at LSU Health Shreveport, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences since 2017. He holds additional professorships in the Departments of Cellular Biology and Anatomy and Molecular and Cellular Physiology. Orr received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Hendrix College in 1998, a PhD in Pathology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2002, and completed postdoctoral fellowship training at the Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, in 2007. After his postdoctoral work, he joined the faculty at LSU Health Shreveport, progressing through the ranks and contributing to institutional leadership through service on the Faculty Senate from 2012 to 2014 and the Research Council since 2009.

Orr's laboratory investigates vascular cell signaling mechanisms in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, with emphasis on hemodynamics and vascular cell-matrix interactions, subendothelial matrix remodeling regulating endothelial activation by shear stress and oxidized lipoproteins, integrin affinity and signaling, Nck adaptor proteins under shear and oxidant stress, and Eph/ephrin signaling in endothelial and smooth muscle cell function. His highly cited publications include “Mechanisms of mechanotransduction” (Developmental Cell, 2006; 1,140 citations), “Integrins in mechanotransduction” (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2004; 961 citations), “The subendothelial extracellular matrix modulates NF-κB activation by flow: a potential role in atherosclerosis” (Journal of Cell Biology, 2005; 395 citations), and “The arterial microenvironment: the where and why of atherosclerosis” (Biochemical Journal, 2016; 234 citations). Orr has secured NIH R01 grants and a $300,000 American Heart Association Transformational Project Mechanisms Pathway Award. He is President of the North American Vascular Biology Organization, has served on its Council, organized meetings, and spoken at events including the 2025 NAVBO Mechanotransduction Workshop. Additional roles include chairing the AHA ATVB Irvine H. Page Award Committee (2024-2026), NIH study sections, and editorial boards for Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology and American Journal of Pathology.