Professor

Role of integrins in the regulation of cell differentiation: Integrin signalling of cell differentiation events, particularly integrin-growth factor receptor coordinated signalling.

My laboratory studies how receptor-signaling pathways instruct a cell to obtain its differentiated phenotype and how aberrations in these signaling pathways lead to diseases.

Specific projects include:

The role of the alpha6 integrin receptor as an upstream regulator of survival pathways that permit apoptotic-like pathways to function as a molecular switch to the signal the initiation of differentiation.

How coordinate signaling between integrins and growth factor receptors provides specificity to integrin signaling in development.

The mechanisms regulating integrin mediated cell-cell interactions and the interaction of adhesion molecules with the intermediate filament cytoskeleton.

The role of cadherin junctions in regulating the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton that drives morphogenesis during development.

Integrin-cadherin cross-talk in cell differentiation.

Mechanisms of wound healing and fibrosis in a mock cataract surgery model.

My laboratory is involved in developing therapeutics to block the induction of Posterior Capsule Opacification (PCO) and cataract. These studies are focused on targeting signaling pathways we have shown are involved in the development of these diseases.