Johnson Ocular and Biofluids Transport Laboratory

The elevated pressure characteristic of glaucoma results from an increased resistance to flow that may be due to elevated stiffness of Schlemm's canal endothelial cell that flow passes through. In this project, we explore the use of targeted nanoparticles to lower the stiffness of these cells and thereby treat the elevated pressure characteristic of glaucoma. This project has been funded by NIH and is available at either the Masters or Doctoral levels.

The cause of the elevated stiffness of Schlemm's canal cells in glaucoma is unknown.  These cells have an unusual lymphatic-like phenotype that may be altered in glaucoma. In this project, we explore this possibility and examine whether the cell phenotype can be altered with genetic engineering with the goal of curing the elevated pressure characteristic of glaucoma. This project has been funded by an NU McCormick Catalyst Award and is available at either the Masters or Doctoral levels.

Drug delivery through both the cornea and sclera is an extremely important topic and yet there is no current model that can adequately predict drug transport rate through these tissues. This study involves development of a theoretical model and experimental validation for the transport of macromolecules through the cornea and sclera. This project is available at the Masters level, with the possibility of continuing the work at the doctoral level.

Generation in Chaotic, Deterministic Processes. Chaotic processes are characterized by random-like behaviors that appear to generate diffusion and entropy in deterministic systems. This is especially interesting in Hamiltonian systems since theoretical considerations indicate that the entropy of such systems should be conserved, and that such systems should be non-diffusive. The project involves the examination of several low order chaotic Hamiltonian systems to determine how diffusion arises in these systems and what metric is appropriate for characterizing the entropy increase that such systems generate. The studies will involve both theoretical and numerical studies. This project is available at the Masters level, with the possibility of continuing the work at the doctoral level.