Inflammatory Disease is Controlled by Lymphatic Biology and Physiology
Our group targets lymphatic endothelial cell biology to uncover and target the critical functions for lymphatic vessels in health and disease.
Lymphatic capillaries maintain tissue homeostasis. Lymphatics (green) and blood vessels (red) make up the tissue’s microcirculation. This image from the skin shows how the vessels are densely intermingled.
Lymphatic circulation as a critical regulator of tissues homeostasis. Lymphatic vessels are not mere sewer systems of organs and peripheral tissues but play and increasingly important role in immunomodulation. We are interested both in how lymphatic functions are impacted by disease and in how manipulating lymphatic biology or lymphangiogenesis may prevent or reduce tissue pathologies. Our research approach incorporates a vast array of tools from protein analysis and lipidomics to tissue engineering and transgenic mouse model generation. Current projects are focused on the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory diseases such as obesity, diabetes, lipedema, hypertension, and kidney disease.