David Krizaj
Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Adjunct Professor of Neurobiology
Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering
The Krizaj Lab
Moran Eye Center lab link
Cellular Neuroscience
E-mail:
Education
B.S. 1986, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; M.S. 1993, New York University; Ph.D. 1994, New York University
RESEARCH:
Calcium regulation and polymodal signaling in the retina
David Krizaj's laboratory is interested in the relationship between intracellular signaling pathways and neurotransmission in the retina. The lab is interested in how non-conventional signaling pathways such as intracellular calcium stores, calcium transporters and store-operated calcium channels collaborate with voltage-operated signals to modulate graded exocytosis. For example, recent experiments elucidated the roles of ryanodine receptors, mitochondria and TRPC channels in spatiotemporal calcium signaling in photoreceptors, glial cells and retinal ganglion neurons. Other projects focus on how TRP channels integrate temperature, mechanical stress and lipid signals, and how translation of these sensory inputs impacts on parallel light-evoked inputs and survival in ganglion cells. A third project is focused on using in vivo multiphoton imaging to define the physiology of microglia within the retina.