Richard S. Berk, Ph.D. is Professor of Immunology and Microbiology. He came to Wayne State University as an associate professor in 1962. Dr. Berk received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1958. He did his post-doctorate at UCLA prior to coming to Wayne State University.

Dr. Berk and his co-investigators are studying the inflammatory response of susceptible and resistant mice to intracorneal infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This ocular infection in humans is particularly damaging to the eye and is extremely difficult to treat. Consequently, Dr. Berk and his research group are studying various parameters of the ocular response to infection so that novel treatments can be developed to counter the debilitating effects of the ocular infection. The use of both susceptible and resistant mice is particularly useful since it provides investigators with a sophisticated tool for determining what factors lead to ocular loss in susceptible mice as opposed to naturally resistant mice which can spontaneously restore corneal clarity without treatment of any kind. These differing results indicate that there is one or more genetic factors regulating the ocular response to infection in these two mouse strains.

As part of the inflammatory process, Dr. Berk is presently studying the host expression of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) during the infectious process in both susceptible and immunized mice which were originally classed as susceptible. Matrix metalloproteases are produced by inflammatory cells such as macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes and consist of 4 classes of proteases consisting of collagenases, stromelysins, gelatinases and membrane-type metalloproteases. These enzyme play a critical role in the maintenance and turnover of normal tissues as well as in chronic diseases such as cancer and arthritis.