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Language
English
Title and Department
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
Professional bio

Craig Brooks, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The overall goal of Dr. Brooks' research is to delineate the molecular mechanisms of proximal tubule epithelial cell (PTCs) injury/death, survival and subsequent regeneration to identify therapeutic targets to treat acute kidney injury (AKI). To this end, he investigated mechanisms of PTC cell death. He was the first to demonstrate pathological mitochondrial fragmentation in PTCs during kidney injury, leading to cell death, (Brooks et al. JCI 2009) and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of inhibiting mitochondrial fragmentation using small molecule inhibitors.

Dr. Brooks' current research interests include: further delineating the mechanism and therapeutic potential of autophagy activation in the regulation of immune processes in AKI; determining if the activation of novel cell cycle regulators following AKI contributes to fibrosis and chronic kidney disease through induction of mTOR-LC3 associated pro-secretory phenotype; and examining if mitochondrial dynamics proteins, such as mitofusins, modulate autophagic flux in AKI.

Education