Krish Kizhatil, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Glaucoma causes blindness in more than 70 million people worldwide. Research is currently being conducted to uncover the underlying mechanisms of this disease.

Location

Bar Harbor, ME

Contact

207-288-6000

krish.kizhatil@jax.org

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Topics

Glaucoma causes blindness in more than 70 million people worldwide. A major causal risk factor for glaucoma is the elevation of intraocular pressure (IOP). An increased resistance to the drainage of aqueous humor (the clear fluid filling the front of the eye) from the anterior chamber of the eye causes IOP elevation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying both IOP elevation and aqueous humor drainage remain unknown. My goal is to fill this gap in knowledge. Using novel genetic tools,modern techniques and a variety of mouse lines, I am presently determining the molecular mechanism of aqueous humor outflow through the Schlemm’s canal (SC), a critical component of the pressure-dependent conventional outflow pathway. We have developed novel techniques and tools to measure outflow and study the SC at a cellular level. Using these tools we have already recently discovered that the SC is a unique vessel that has both lymphatic and blood vessel like characteristics. We are currently exploiting this new finding to obtain information regarding the molecular mechanisms of IOP elevation that can be leveraged to design new therapeutic interventions to prevent glaucoma.

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Grants, honors and accomplishments

Grants/Research Support

Active:
09/30/2017 – 08/31/2022
Agency: NIH/NEI RO1 (R01 EY028175),
Role: PI
Title: Determining How Lymphatic Molecules Control Conventional Outflow.
Total Direct Costs: $250,000

09/30/2020 – 08/31/2021
Agency: NIH/NEI RO1 (Administrative Supplement, R01 EY028175-04S1),
Role: PI
Title: Determining How Lymphatic Molecules Control Conventional Outflow.
Total Direct Costs: $156,158

01/01/2021 – 11/30/2025
Agency: NIH/NEI (R01 EY032062)
Title: Does VECAD at Schlemm canal cell-junctions determine IOP and glaucoma risk?
Role: Co-PI with Dr. Simon John, Columbia University.
Total Direct Costs: $179,781 (Year 1)

03/31/2021 – 2/29/2024
Agency: Bright Focus Foundation (Special opportunity grant)
Title: Selective Targeting of Schlemm's Canal Inner Wall for Next-Generation Glaucoma Drugs.
Role: Co-PI with Drs. Simon John  (Columbia University), Dan Stamer (Duke University), Ross Ethier (Georgia Tech), Darryl Overby (ICL, UK), Joseph Sherwood-van Batenburg (ICL, UK).
Total Direct Costs: $69,950

Completed Research Support:

07/01/2017 - 6/30/2019
Agency: Bright Focus Foundation G2017152
Role: PI
Title: Determining the Neuronal Control of Intraocular Pressure.
Total Direct Costs: $75,000

Honors and Awards

Recipient - Barbara and Joseph Cohen Young Investigator Award for 2010, 2015, 2017

Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize of the New York Academy of Medicine for 2014 for the most outstanding scholarly article on glaucoma published in a peer-reviewed journal. (Awarded in 2015)