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e-mail-rkowluru@med.wayne.edu
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Education:
M.S. (Biochemistry), Lucknow University, Lucknow, India; 1972-1974
Ph.D. (Chemistry with Biochemistry minor), Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow & Kanpur
University, Kanpur, India; 1974-1978
Training:
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Brussels Free University, Brussels, Belgium, (Dr. WJ Malaisse, Director); 1978-1981
Research Associate, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, (Dr. CR Jefcoate, Director); 1981-1984
Professional and Faculty Appointments:
Staff Member, Division of Life Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM; 1985-1990
Associate Scientist (equivalent to Associate Professor-Research), Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; 1991-1998
Associate Professor (Research), Kresge Eye Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI; 1999-2004
Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, and Anatomy & Cell Biology; Wayne State University, Detroit, MI; 2004-2007
Professor, Ophthalmology, and Anatomy & Cell Biology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Detroit, MI, 2007-
Honors and Awards:
Dennise L. Gierhart Charitable Award to support Diabetic Retinopathy Research, 2004
Mary Jane Kugel award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 2006
Editorial board member, Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, Ashley Publications, London, 2000--
Editorial Board Member, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, 2005---
Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Biomedical Science, 2006---
Regular Member, Biology and Diseases of the Posterior Eye (VIS C), National Eye Institute, 2006-2010
Regular Member, Research Grant Review Panel, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 2001-2009
Research Grant Reviewer, Wellcome Trust Foundation, 2002---
Grant Reviewer, Healy Foundation, Australia, 2003---
Study Section Member, NIDDK, SBIR to Develop New Therapies for Type I Diabetes and Its Complications, 2004
Member, Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group Review, NIDDK-‘Retinopathies–in vivo models and
approaches to therapy’, 2004
Member, Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group, NIDDK-‘Preventing Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress in
Diabetes and Obesity’, 2005
Member, Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group Review, NIDDK-ZDK1 ZRB-2 ‘Diabetic Complications in
Animals’, 2005
Member, Scientific Review Panel, Drug Screening program for Diabetic Complications; Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation, 2005
Member, Scientific Review Panel, Pre-Clinical Testing and Inter-disciplinary research in complications initiative, J
uvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 2006
Member, Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group Review, NIDDK-ZDK1 GRB-N ‘Biomarker Development for
Diabetic Complications’, 2007
Member, Scientific Abstract Review Committee of the society for Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 2003---
Member, Scientific Abstract Review Committee of the American Diabetes Association's 66th Scientific Sessions, 2006---
Member, Diversity Issues Committee, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, 2005-2008
Major Research Interest:
To elucidate molecular and biochemical mechanisms associated with the development of diabetic retinopathy; and with the
resistance of retinopathy to arrest after re-establishment of good glycemic control.
Current Research:
Diabetic retinopathy, one of the major complications of diabetes, is the leading cause of acquired blindness in working adults.
Due to sustained hyperglycemia, the microvasculature of the retina is damaged and the blood vessels leak fluid, and if not prevented,
new vessels start to grow that ultimately can lead to the detachment of the retina. Our studies are aimed in understanding how changes
in mitochondrial function result in capillary cell death of the retina, and the putative regulatory role(s) of Ras, a small molecular weight
GTP-binding protein, in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Understanding the signal transduction mechanisms involved in retinal
capillary cell death in diabetes will help elucidate novel molecular targets for future pharmacological interventions to inhibit the
development of this sight-threatening complication of diabetes.
Clinical studies have shown that retinopathy continues to progress after good glycemic control is initiated. The carry-over effect of prior
glycemic exposure on the later course of microvascular complications is commonly termed as ‘metabolic memory’. Using rodent models
of diabetic retinopathy, we are testing the hypothesis that ‘the resistance of retinopathy to arrest is, in part, due to the continued mitochondrial
dysfunction and inflammatory markers in the retinal microvasculature, resulting in irreversible loss of retinal capillary cells’. By exploring the
mechanism responsible for the tendency of incipient retinopathy to continue to progress, we anticipate to identify biochemical and molecular
abnormalities associated with this resistance. The results could be translated into therapies to retard/halt the progression of diabetic retinopathy,
and provide patients an opportunity to supplement their best possible sensible glycemic control with additional therapies.
Research Support: :
NIH grants-R01-EY14370 and R01-EY017313
Research grants from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 1-2004-287 and 1-2006-616
Research grant from the Thomas Foundation.
Selected Publications:
| 1. | Kowluru RA, Kowluru A, Chakrabarti S, Khan Z: Potential contributory role of H-Ras, a small G-protein, in the development of retinopathy in diabetic rats. Diabetes 53:775-783, 2004 Medline |
| 2. | Kowluru RA, Odenbach S: Role of interleukin-1beta in the development of diabetic retinopathy in rats: effects of antioxidants. Invest Ophthal Vis Sci 45:4161-4166, 2004 Medline |
| 3. | Kowluru RA, Odenbach S: Effect of long-term administration of alpha lipoic acid on retinal capillary cell death and the development of retinopathy in diabetic rats. Diabetes 53:3233-3238, 2004 Medline |
| 4. | Kowluru RA: Diabetic retinopathy: Mitochondrial dysfunction and retinal capillary cell death. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling 7:1581-1587, 2005 Medline |
| 5. | Kowluru RA, Atasi L, Ho YS: Role of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Invest Ophthal Vis Sci 47:1594-1599, 2006 Medline |
| 6. | Kowluru RA, Kowluru V, Xiaong YS, Ho YS: Overexpression of mitochondrial superoxide dismutase in mice protects the retina from diabetes-induced oxidative stress. Free Rad Biol Med 41:1191-1196, 2006 Medline |
| 7. | Kowluru RA, Kowluru A, Kanwar M: Role of small molecular weight G-protein, H-Ras, in retinal capillary cell death in diabetes. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 396:69-76, 2007 Medline |
| 8. | Chan PS, Kowluru RA: Role of retinal mitochondria in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Expert Review of Ophthalmology 2:237-247, 2007 Medline |
| 9. | Kowluru RA, Kanwar M, Kennedy A: Metabolic memory phenomenon and accumulation of peroxynitrite in retinal capillaries. Exp Diabetes Res 2007:1-7, 2007 Medline |
| 10. | Kanwar M, Chan PS, Kern TS, Kowluru RA: Oxidative damage in the retinal mitochondria of diabetic mice: Possible protection by superoxide dismutase. Invest Ophthal Vis Sci 48:3805-381, 2007 Medline |
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