University of Missouri – Columbia (MU)
Research in my lab is focused on cardiovascular diseases and diabetes associated comorbidities. Diabetes induces heart disease and micro and macro vasculopathy, and delays wound healing. Angiotensin II type 2 receptor AT2R is a cardiovascular reparative molecule. In collaboration with the biotech company Novopyxis, we investigate the effects a novel AT2R agonist NP-6A, the first drug to receive the orphan drug designation for pediatric cardiomyopathy from FDA since 1993, to promote cardiac repair and improve cardiovascular cell survival in diabetes and chemotherapy induced cardiotoxicity.
Diabetic ulcers and wounds are difficult to heal, often cause limb amputation, and constitute a major disease burden. To develop a new treatment paradigm to improve wound healing, we are currently investigating the utility and efficacy of a novel transdermal delivery system called Droplette to locally deliver analgesics and appropriate drugs deep into the tissue without touching the skin to heal diabetic ulcers and wounds.