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CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE LABORATORY

Xiaowen Lu, PhD, Assistant Research Scientist
Zhong Chen, PhD, Senior Research Associate

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Research interests of the lab center on cornea physiology, wound healing and fibrosis, and how diabetes affects these factors. We also have a long term interest in bioactive lipids. We currently have two primary ongoing projects in the lab. The first is to gain an understanding of the mechanisms behind chemical injuries of the cornea and development of drugs to treat those injuries. The second is to understand how small, quickly healing tears of the plasma membrane of cells in the cornea, initiated by mechanical insults such as eye rubbing, affect cornea function and physiology.

 EDUCATION AND TRAINING

BS, Biology; Emory University, Atlanta Georgia
PhD, Physiology; Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Wisconsin. Advisor: Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow; Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Mayo Foundation, Rochester Minnesota. Supervisor: James L. Rae, PhD

HONORS AND AWARDS

University of Tennessee Science Alliance Faculty Award, 2001
Marta Marx Eradication of Scleroderma Award, National Scleroderma Foundation, 2005
ARVO Silver Fellow, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, 2010

Medical College of Georgia Exemplary Teaching Award, 2020/2021

INTERESTING FACT

Dr. Watsky was the previous Dean of the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Graduate School and was also the founder of, and previous advisor for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Karate Club.

PATENT

U.S.Patent #6,645,715: Artificial Cornea. Inventors: Griffith M, Watsky M,

SELECTED RECENT AND KEY PUBLICATIONS 

• Griffith, M, Osborne, R, Munger, R, Song, Y, Xiaojuan, X, Laycock, N, Hakim, M, Doillon, C, and Watsky, MA. A functional human corneal equivalent from cell lines. Science 286:2169-2172, 1999.
• Williams, KK and Watsky, MA. Gap junctional communication in the human corneal endothelium and epithelium. Current Eye Research. 25: 29-36, 2002.
• Tokumura, A, Carbone, L, Yoshioka, Y, Morishige, J, Kikuchi, M, Postlethwaite, A, Watsky M. Elevated serum levels of arachidonoyl-lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate in systemic sclerosis. Int J Med Sci. 6:168-176, 2009.
• Lin Y, Ubels JL, Schotanus MP, Yin Z, Pintea V, Hammock BD, Watsky MA. Enhancement of vitamin D metabolites in the eye following vitamin D3 supplementation and UV-B irradiation. Curr Eye Res. 37:871-878, 2012.
• Lu, X, Watsky, MA. Effects of vitamin D receptor knockout on cornea epithelium gap junctions. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 55:2975-2982 2014.
• Elizondo, RA, Yin, Z, Lu, X, Watsky, MA. Effect of vitamin D receptor knockout on cornea epithelium wound healing and tight junctions. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 55:5245-5251, 2014.

• Lu, X, Watsky, MA. Influence of vitamin D on corneal epithelial cell adherens junctions. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 60(13): 4074–4083, 2019.
• Chen, Z, Lu, X, McGee-Lawrence, M, Chen, J, Watsky, MA. Transient cell membrane disruption-induced calcium signaling in corneal keratocytes. Sci Rep. 10, 2840, 2020.
• Chen, Z, Lu, X, Mylarapu, N, Kuthyar, S, Sakhalkar, O, Watsky, MA. A method for eliminating fibroblast contamination in mouse and human primary corneal epithelial cell cultures. Curr Eye Res, doi: 10.1080/02713683.2023.2241683, 2023.
• Lu, X, Chen, Z, Lu, J, Watsky, MA. Effects of 1,25-vitamin D3 and 24, 25-vitamin D3 on corneal nerve regeneration in diabetic mice. Biomolecules, 13(12), 1754; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13121754, 2023.
• Chen, Z, Lu, X, Watsky, MA. Transient plasma membrane disruption induced calcium waves in mouse and human corneal epithelium. PLoS ONE, 19(4): e0301495. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301495.