Member Profile

My research is focused on elucidating inflammatory mechanisms underlying acute injury and disease pathogenesis induced by drugs and toxicants in the lung and the liver. I am specifically interested in macrophages and inflammatory mediators they release. For our studies, we use rodent models of exposure to characterize inflammatory macrophage phenotype and function and biochemical/molecular mechanisms regulating their activity following toxicant exposure. In recent studies we have been analyzing the role of extracellular vesicles and cargo they carry including microRNAs in macrophage activation. The overall goal of my research is to harness the pathologic activity of macrophages and redirect it towards promoting the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair.