Rutar laboratory: Ocular Neuroimmunology
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Head of Laboratory
Dr Matt Rutar+61 3 9035 9912
Research Overview
View Dr Rutar's latest publications listing here
Our laboratory focus lies in exploring the immunological landscape of the nervous system, with an emphasis on the eye as a model system for driving exciting insights into the role of the innate immunity and macrophage biology in health and disease. According to the World Health Organization, is has been estimated that over 730 million people are visually impaired, and over 150 million people afflicted by blindness. In Australia, Age related macular degeneration (AMD) accounts for ~50% of all cases of irreversible vision loss, costs the economy just over $5 billion annually, and has little in the way of effective treatments. The unique immune landscape of the nervous system is implicated across a spectrum of ocular diseases, although the molecular pathways which drive across are poorly understood, such as those at play in AMD.
The goal of our work is to explore new avenues into the fundamental biology of the neuroimmune interface that could simultaneously lead to improved treatments for patients suffering from sight-threatening disorders. We employ a multidisciplinary toolkit which leverages sophisticated single-cell molecular profiling approaches, imaging platforms, stem cells, and animal models. These have pertained mainly to the exploration of AMD, though our lab has an emerging interest in experimental models to understand the inflammatory mechanisms of uveitis. Current projects available fall under the following broad categories:
- Investigation of innate immune pathways that underscore AMD and uveitis, particularly the complement system.
- Molecular profiling using single-cell RNAseq to uncover gene networks in myeloid subsets that direct ocular immune responses and homeostasis.
- Modelling microglia-neuron immune interactions in vitro using stem cells.
Outstanding PhD, Masters, and Honours students are continuously sought for recruitment to our lab.
Staff
Dr Matt Rutar, Head of Laboratory
Joel Mason, Research Assistant
Collaborators
A/Professor Trent Woodruff, University of Queensland
A/Professor Michelle Madigan, University of New South Wales
Professor Robyn Guymer, Centre for Eye Research Australia
Professor Steven Petrou, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Dr Riccardo Natoli, The Australia National University
Professor Christine Wells, University of Melbourne
Professor Alice Pebay, University of Melbourne
Professor Erica Fletcher, University of Melbourne
Funding
2019-2022 NHMRC Standard Project Grant. Macrophages as novel targets for ameliorating deleterious complement activation in retinal degeneration
2017-2019 NHMRC New Investigator Project Grant. The use of microRNA as novel therapeutic targets for reducing retinal inflammation and degeneration
2016 Retina Australia. The role of complement activation in retinal degeneration
2013 Gordon and Gretel Bootes Foundation. The role of chemokines in a model of dry AMD
2013 The Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia. Delaying the progress of AMD