To learn more about the research opportunities listed below, please email Dr. Grytz at rafaelgrytz@uabmc.edu.
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Rafael Grytz
on December 19, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Research at the Grytz Lab:
Our EYES are composed of living tissues, which grow and remodel in response to mechanical, chemical and visual stimuli. We seek to understand the biomechanical mechanisms that underlie collagen growth and remodeling (G&R) in the eye during physiological and pathological conditions. Our particular research interest includes G&R in three blinding diseases: myopia, glaucoma, and keratoconus.
The Grytz Lab develops and applies experimental and computational methods to image, quantify, and simulate growth and remodeling mechanisms at various length scales of the eye, from the molecular to the organ level. Our laboratory’s goal is to provide predictive computational simulation tools that support the development of new diagnostics and patient-specific therapeutics in ocular diseases and conditions.
Our research is funded by 2 large NIH grants.
What methods/tools do we use:
• Unique animal model: tree shrews. We can induce myopia and glaucoma and study disease progression and test new treatments.
• Clinical imaging devices (OCT, MRI, biometer, autorefractor) to quantify macro-scale morphologic changes due to G&R in vivo.
• Two-photon fluorescence microscopy of fresh eye tissues to quantify ocular biomechanics at the micro-scale ex-vivo
• Organ culture experiments to elucidate G&R mechanisms in situ
• Finite Element Method (FEM) to simulate ocular biomechanics, growth and remodeling mechanisms at multiple scales in silico. We develop our own FEM code.
• We love MATLAB and use it for almost everything
About you:
You should enjoy working on challenging experimental techniques (tissue culture, microscopy) or programming tasks (image processing, data analysis). You will be working with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from engineering, biology, ophthalmology, and vision science. You should have the ability to work in a team, have good management and communication skills and be highly motivated and committed to pursuing interdisciplinary research.
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Research at the Grytz Lab:
Our EYES are composed of living tissues, which grow and remodel in response to mechanical, chemical and visual stimuli. We seek to understand the biomechanical mechanisms that underlie collagen growth and remodeling (G&R) in the eye during physiological and pathological conditions. Our particular research interest includes G&R in three blinding diseases: myopia, glaucoma, and keratoconus.
The Grytz Lab develops and applies experimental and computational methods to image, quantify, and simulate growth and remodeling mechanisms at various length scales of the eye, from the molecular to the organ level. Our laboratory’s goal is to provide predictive computational simulation tools that support the development of new diagnostics and patient-specific therapeutics in ocular diseases and conditions.
Our research is funded by 2 large NIH grants.
What methods/tools do we use:
• Unique animal model: tree shrews. We can induce myopia and glaucoma and study disease progression and test new treatments.
• Clinical imaging devices (OCT, MRI, biometer, autorefractor) to quantify macro-scale morphologic changes due to G&R in vivo.
• Two-photon fluorescence microscopy of fresh eye tissues to quantify ocular biomechanics at the micro-scale ex-vivo
• Organ culture experiments to elucidate G&R mechanisms in situ
• Finite Element Method (FEM) to simulate ocular biomechanics, growth and remodeling mechanisms at multiple scales in silico. We develop our own FEM code.
• We love MATLAB and use it for almost everything
About you:
You should enjoy working on challenging experimental techniques (tissue culture, microscopy) or programming tasks (image processing, data analysis). You will be working with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from engineering, biology, ophthalmology, and vision science. You should have the ability to work in a team, have good management and communication skills and be highly motivated and committed to pursuing interdisciplinary research.