Erica Wehrwein

###Brief Bio
Erica A. Wehrwein, PhD is a Professor of Physiology at Michigan State University (MSU). She is deeply committed to teaching, service, and mentoring learners across the K–12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. Dr. Wehrwein serves as Course Director and Professor for PSL 475: Capstone Laboratory in Physiology, a course dedicated to integrative physiology along with career and professional development, and PSL 431: Human Physiology I. She also leads medical school instruction in autonomic nervous system, blood pressure, respiratory, and cardiac physiology.

For more than 15 years, Dr. Wehrwein has played a prominent role in national and international leadership in physiology education. She is the co-founder and Director of the Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG), an international consortium of undergraduate physiology programs dedicated to advancing physiology education worldwide. She also serves as Chair of the Advisory Board for the American Physiological Society (APS) Center for Physiology Education.

Dr. Wehrwein has received numerous honors recognizing her excellence in teaching, research, and service, including the 2022 APS Arthur C. Guyton Distinguished Educator of the Year Award, the 2013 APS Dale Benos Early Career Professional Service Award, and the 2025 MSU President’s Distinguished Teaching Award.


###Book Chapters
Erica A. Wehrwein, Hakan S. Orer, and Susan M. Barman. Overview of the Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology of the Autonomic Nervous System, Comprehensive Physiology, 2016

Thomas E. Dick, Yee-Hsee Hsieh, Rishi R. Dhingra, David M. Baekey, Roberto F. Galán, Erica Wehrwein, Kendall F. Morris.  Cardiorespiratory Coupling: Common Rhythms in Cardiac, Sympathetic and Respiratory Activities. Progress in Brain Research: Breathing, Emotion and Evolution, 2014

Wehrwein EA, Joyner MJ. Regulation of blood pressure by the arterial baroreflex and autonomic nervous system. Handb Clin Neurol. 2013

EA Wehrwein and MJ Joyner, Cardiovascular Methods: General Considerations for Human Studies, Ch 33 in Essential Guide to Reading Biomedical Papers, 2013

EA Wehrwein and MJ Joyner, Measuring Cardiac Output in Humans, Ch 34 in Essential Guide to Reading Biomedical Papers, 2013

EA Wehrwein and MJ Joyner, Measuring Peripheral Blood Flow in Humans, Ch 35 in Essential Guide to Reading Biomedical Papers , 2013

EA Wehrwein and MJ Joyner, “Arterial Baroreflex:  What king, how many?”, Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 2011

###Selected Additional Publications
Wehrwein EA, Carter JR. The Mind Matters: Psychology as an Overlooked Variable Within Physiology Studies. Physiology (Bethesda). 2016 Mar;31(2):74-5. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00059.2015. 

Anderson L, Rogers J, Stanescu C, VanRyn V, Wehrwein EA. What Draws Physiology Educators to the Physiology Majors Interest Group: Results from Pre and Post Conference Surveys. Advances in Physiology Education, Dec 2020.

Rogers J, McFarland J, Stanescu C, Crosswhite P, Crecelius A. The 2019 P-MIG student survey and capturing the undergraduate perspective of physiology programming. Advances in Physiology Education, Dec 2020.

Stanescu C, Wehrwein EA, Anderson L, Rogers J. Evaluation of Core Concepts of Physiology in Physiology Curricula: Results from Faculty Surveys. Advances in Physiology Education. Dec 2020.

Steele K, VanRyn V, Stanescu C, Rogers J, Wehrwein EA. Student career aspirations, employment paths, and perceptions on career preparation in undergraduate physiology programs. Advances in Physiology Education. Dec 2020.

Wehrwein EA, Poteracki J, Halliwill J. A brief history of the Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG), physiology undergraduate degrees, and existing resources. Advances in Physiology Education. Dec 2020.

Wehrwein EA, Stanescu C, Osborne J, Crecelius A, Rogers J. It takes a village: Stakeholders, national curricular guidelines, and efforts to strengthen physiology undergraduate education. Advances in Physiology Education. Dec 2020.

Barnett WH, Latash EM, Capps RA, Dick TE, Wehrwein EA, Molkov YI. Traube-Hering waves are formed by interaction of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and pulse pressure modulation in healthy men. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2020 Nov 1;129(5):1193-1202. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00452.2020. Epub 2020

Wehrwein EA, VanRyn V, Kelly K. Degree requirements of physiology undergraduate programs in the Physiology Majors Interest Group (P-MIG). Advances in Physiology Education.

VanRyn V, E.A. Wehrwein, and C.I. Stanescu. “Physiology Majors Interest Group (PMIG): 2018 Second Annual Meeting Summary.” The Physiologist 62.1 p. 25-27, Jan 2019

VanRyn, V, Poteracki J and Wehrwein EA. “Win-win: utilizing undergraduate honors college credits in support of sustainable department outreach programs.” Adv Physiol Educ. 2018 Dec 1;42(4):718-719. doi: 10.1152/advan.00041.2018

VanRyn, V and Wehrwein, EA. “Building Community by Serving the Community”. Adv Physiol Educ. 2018 Jun 1;42(2):247-250. doi: 10.1152/advan.00052.2017.

VanRyn, V, Poteracki, JM and Wehrwein, EA. “Organizing a Large-Scale Physiology Understanding (PhUn) Week Event at a Science Center”. Adv Physiol Educ. 2018 Jun 1;42(2):169-174. doi: 10.1152/advan.00007.2018.

VanRyn, V, Fenn, J and Wehrwein, EA. “Show me the beat! A kinesthetic activity for teaching undergraduates the relationships between cardiac electrical rhythm and contractile patterns”. Adv Physiol Educ. 2018 Jun 1;42(2):240-241. doi: 10.1152/advan.00151.2017

VanRyn VS, Poteracki JM, Wehrwein EA. Physiology undergraduate degree requirements in the U.S. Adv Physiol Educ. 2017 Dec 1;41(4):572-577.