Steven Abcouwer

Dr. Steven F. Abcouwer is a Research Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan Medicine Kellogg Eye Center. He serves as a Principal Investigator of two National Eye Institute (NEI)-funded R01 research grants and an industry-funded research contract. For the last ten years Dr. Abcouwer has also served as Director of the Molecular Biology Core of the National Eye Institute P30 grant-funded University of Michigan Vision Research Center. He has served as a member and chair of several national and international grant review panels, including several NIH study sections on eye and vision pathophysiology and neurodegenerative diseases. He serves as the Chief Editor of the Journal of Ophthalmology, sits on the editorial boards of the journals: Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science (IOVS), Translational Vision Science and Technology (TVST), Molecular Vision, Frontiers in Ophthalmology, Frontiers in Neurology, Frontiers in Immunology, American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology, and Metabolism and Diabetes Research. He also serves as ad hoc reviewer for numerous other scientific journals and serves as a consultant for major biopharmaceutical companies developing treatments for sight-threatening retinal diseases. Dr. Abcouwer lives with his wife on ten acres of woods and meadows in the Michigan countryside. They have two grown sons and two grandchildren who they adore.

The Abcouwer lab uses rodent models of retinal ischemia-reperfusion, retinal detachment, and diabetic retinopathy to study the innate immune responses to neurodegeneration and how inflammation affects retinal degeneration and the loss and restoration of the inner blood-retinal barrier. The lab also examines the role of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling in retinal physiology, including retinal vascular development, retinal ganglion cell pathophysiology, and bipolar cell light-evoked responses. Another area of research examines how diabetes affects retinal lipid metabolism and post-translational modification of retinal proteins.