SUMMARY
Caroline (Carli) R. Sussman, Ph.D., is a nephrology researcher who investigates the molecular and cellular biology of kidney development, response to injury, and implications for treating renal conditions.
Dr. Sussman has a special interest in polycystic kidney disease (PKD), an inherited condition that causes cyst growth and is a major cause of renal failure.
To conduct her research, Dr. Sussman uses cell cultures, mouse models, and zebrafish, animals that share 70% of genes with humans and 84% of human disease-causing genes. Of these shared genes, two are responsible for most cases of PKD in people. In zebrafish, these genes cause kidney cysts when disrupted.
A major focus of Dr. Sussman's work is the interaction between the extracellular matrix and kidney tubule cells and the influence of this interaction on kidney injury and repair and disease progression.
Focus areas
- Developing unbiased screening approaches to identify tissue changes, especially in early-stage PKD.
- Testing the impact of early-disease tissue changes on disease progression using model systems.
- Examining injury repair in PKD by studying kidney regeneration in zebrafish PKD models.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Sussman's research improves understanding of the genes and cellular processes that influence kidney health and how they are changed in kidney conditions, especially PKD. Her work helps in finding new treatments for kidney conditions and new biomarkers and clues about possible outcomes in PKD.
Professional highlights
- Mayo Clinic:
- Coordinator, Regenerative Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2021-present.
- Associate director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, 2019-2023.
- Associate director, Zebrafish Facility, 2017-2020.
- Editorial board, American Journal of Physiology — Renal Physiology, 2013-present.
- Invited speaker, Polycystic Kidney Disease Scientific Research Conference, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), 2017.
- Travel award for the Jared J. Grantham Symposium, Jared Grantham Kidney Institute, University of Kansas Medical Center, 2014.
- Travel award for the PKD Early Program, American Society of Nephrology, 2013.