Faculty
Jeremy Duffield, MD, PhD
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Associate Professor
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Our Lab is studying the mechanisms of organ regeneration after injury (with primary focus on kidney). Failure of adequate regeneration after injury is a hallmark of the kidney leading to chronic kidney disease and organ failure.
We have been studying the role of reparative macrophages and hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in this process and have recently focused on activation of Wnt signaling pathways by macrophages and also phagocytic/endocytic clearance pathways regulated by Gpnmb expressing macrophages.
Our studies are increasingly converging on the microvasculature. We recently showed potent regenerative effects of HSCs on kidney microvasculature by transiently adopting endothelial characteristics. Furthermore we recently described for the first time pericytes in the kidney microvasculature and their role in capillary regeneration after injury. We are currently investigating the mechanisms of pericyte function in the kidney including regulation of VEGFR and PDGFR signaling pathways.
