Karsten Gronert, PhD
Research Interests
Research efforts in the Gronert laboratory are part of a new paradigm that has established lipid networks as critical regulators for the successful execution of healthy immune responses and for maintaining tissue homeostasis. Our research focused on elucidating the role of these endogenous protective networks in ocular immune and reparative responses and retinal neurodegeneration. The endogenous role of these clinically important lipid mediators and their receptors is rapidly evolving but many questions about their regulation and molecular mechanisms of action remain to be answered. Our laboratory employs innovative approaches and state-of-the art technology to discover and define the regulation of protective lipid mediator networks at the gene, enzyme, receptor and cell level. A long-standing expertise of our research group is LC/MS/MS-based lipidomics and lipid mediator bioinformatics. Our long-term goals are aimed at defining the regulation of lipid mediator programs in health and understand how they are dysregulated in diseases in order to develop innovative approaches for their therapeutic amplification. We recently discovered that retinal astrocyte release
lipoxins to directly protect ganglion cells against neurotoxic stress. This critical function is impaired when astrocytes switch to a reactive phenotype. More importantly, therapeutic amplification of this retinal lipoxins circuit stops retinal ganglion cell degeneration in pre-clinical glaucomatous neurodegeneration models. We are currently investigating the regulation of this novel retinal lipoxin circuit, its mechanisms of action and therapeutic potential.
Teaching
Optometry 226A: Systemic Pharmacology
Co-Instructor
Basic pharmacology, terminology, and concepts (both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic) and pharmacotheraphy of medical conditions commonly encountered in clinical optometric practice (including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, infection and inflammatory conditions, as well as central nervous system disorders)
Optometry 226B: Ocular Pharmacology
Co-Instructor
Basic pharmacology, terminology, and concepts (both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic) as applied to the eye and ophthalmic drugs, clinical prescribing issues including formulation, dosing and prescribing, and pharmacotherapy of anti-inflammatory, centrally acting, hormonal and other "specialist" systemic drugs.