MALINDA E.C. FITZGERALD, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Biology

Christian Brothers University

Adjunct Professor

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Address

Christian Brothers University

650 E. Parkway S.

Memphis, TN 38104

Tel: (901) 321-3262; Fax: (901) 321-4433;

Education

Ph.D. Institution: The University of Tennessee, Memphis

Postdoctoral: The University of Tennessee, Memphis

Research Interests

Age-related mascular degeneration (AMD) and diabetes are two ocular diseases that are responsible for most of the new blindness that occurs in the United States. In both diseases, new vessel growth and decreased blood flow occur in the eye. My research involves investigating the nature, basis and consequences of vascular abnormalities in the eye during these, and related, diseases. There are two vascular beds in most mammalian eyes that provide the blood supply to the retina. The inner retinal vessels, which originate from the central retinal artery, and the outer vascular bed termed the choroid, which originates from the ciliary arteries. One focus of my research has been to investigate the cell biological basis of retinal vascular endothelial cell proliferation, particularly the mechanisms controlling cell growth and migration within the eye. While the precise location of the new vessel growth is different in diabetes and AMD, they have a common result, ocular pathology. Parallel to this research, I have studied the role of the choroidal vasculature in retinal health. The choroid is the major vascular supply of the retina, yet little is known about the possible role that impairments in choroidal blood flow (ChBF) or its regulation may play in retinal disease. Decreases in ChBF may contribute to the etiology or progression of diseases such as, myopia, AMD, or glaucoma. Since decreased ChBF and vascular proliferation affect the health of the retina, research on the mechanisms controlling these vascular functions will provide information on the role of the normal vascular function in supporting retinal health and the role of defective vascular function in contributing to retinal disease.

I use an avian model (pigeons) and a variety of techniques in my research, electron microscopy, electrophysiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology in order to investigate the effects of vascular disease on the health of the retina.

Links

Christian Brothers University - Malinda E.C. Fitzgerald

Grants

MidSouth Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Award from NIH 09/01/00 - 07/2013 (www.cbu.edu/mhirt)

Recent Publications

• Yamashita T, Liu J, Gao J, LeNoue S, Wang C, Kaminoh J, Bowne SJ, Sullivan LS, Daiger SP, Zhang K, Fitzgerald ME, Kefalov VJ, Zuo J. Essential and synergistic roles of RP1 and RP1L1 in rod photoreceptor axoneme and retinitis pigmentosa. J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 5;29(31):9748-60. PMID: 19657028
• Liu J, Joglekar M, Ware J, Fitzgerald ME, Lowell CA, Berndt MC, Gartner TK. Evaluation of the physiological significance of botrocetin/ von Willebrand factor in vitro signaling. J Thromb Haemost. 2008 Nov;6(11):1915-22. Epub 2008 Aug 22. PMID: 18752568
• Kimble TD, Fitzgerald ME, Reiner A. Sustained upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein in Müller cells in pigeon retina following disruption of the parasympathetic control of choroidal blood flow. Exp Eye Res. 2006 Nov;83(5):1017-30. Epub 2006 Jul 12. PMID: 16839546
• Liu J, Fitzgerald ME, Berndt MC, Jackson CW, Gartner TK. Bruton tyrosine kinase is essential for botrocetin/VWF-induced signaling and GPIb-dependent thrombus formation in vivo. Blood. 2006 Oct 15;108(8):2596-603. Epub 2006 Jun 20. PMID: 16788103
• Fitzgerald ME, Tolley E, Jackson B, Zagvazdin YS, Cuthbertson SL, Hodos W, Reiner A. Anatomical and functional evidence for progressive age-related decline in parasympathetic control of choroidal blood flow in pigeons. Exp Eye Res. 2005 Oct;81(4):478-91. Epub 2005 Jun 1. PMID: 15935343
• Reiner A, Zagvazdin Y, Fitzgerald ME. Choroidal blood flow in pigeons compensates for decreases in arterial blood pressure. Exp Eye Res. 2003 Mar;76(3):273-82. PMID: 12573656

view complete list of references (pubmed link)