Michael Landowski, PhD
Credentials: Department of Genetics (School of Medicine and Public Health)
Position title: Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: landowski@wisc.edu
Address:
5322 Genetics-Biotechnology Center
425 Henry Mall
Madison, WI 53706
Advisor: Akihiro Ikeda, PhD
Keywords: Aging, retinal pigmented epithelium, retinal degeneration, mitochondria, metabolism
Education:
BS 2009, Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
PhD 2018, Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Durham, NC
Research Interests:
Dr. Landowski investigates the molecular pathways disrupted by genetic mutations that accelerate the formation of age-dependent retinal pathologies in mice. His studies focus on mice with a mutation in transmembrane protein 135 (Tmem135) that display age-dependent retinal pathologies such as RPE abnormalities, photoreceptor degeneration, and visual loss. TMEM135 is a mitochondria-associated protein believed to regulate mitochondria dynamics, but the mechanism by which TMEM135 protects an eye from age-dependent pathologies is unknown. Landowski uses genetic techniques to identify and interrogate pathways perturbed by TMEM135 deficiency in mice.