Antonia M. Joussen, MD

Antonia M. Joussen, MD
Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology Virchow Klinikum and Klinikum Benjamin Franklin
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

Department of Ophthalology
49 clinicians, 8 Researchers. Experimental Ophthalmology (Head Prof. Dr. Olaf Strauss, PhD) with tight conncection to clinical research. Teaching in ophthalmology as well as physiology

Interests
Angiogenesis / Inflammation / Neurodegeneration of the retina / in vivo retinal imaging and function testing

Techniques
Mouse modells of ROP, diabetes, CNV / flatmounts / molecular biology, electrophysiology and anigography

Project: Understanding angiogneesis and neurodegenerationtion in the retinal vascular disease (ESR3.2 Retinopathy of prematurity)

The research project is focussed on assessing animal models of retinal vascular pathology, including oxygen-induced retinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, radiation retinopathy and laser induced CNV lesions. Physiological and pathological adapation processes of the vasculature and the neuroretina will be investigated using in vivo assessment (angiography, optical coherence tomography, electrophysiology) and ex vivo investigations (immunohistochemistry and molecular biological techniques).
The PhD project will contain animal work in the established models as well as ex vivo techniques.
In particular, the role of axonal guidance molecules such as netrin-4 and the role of microglia cells will be assessed in collaboration in collaboration with the institute for neuropathology at the Charité and Researchers at the Max Dellbrück Center Berlin.
If relevant for the experimental studies, the PhD student can be involved in the ongoing clinical research on retinal imaging of retinal vascular disease.

Major 5 Publications

Semkova I, Muether PS, Kuebbeler M, Meyer KL, Kociok N, Joussen AM. Recruitment of blood-derived inflammatory cells mediated via tumor necrosis factor-α receptor 1b exacerbates choroidal neovascularization. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52(9):6101-8.

Müther PS, Semkova I, Schmidt K, Abari E, Kuebbeler M, Beyer M, Abken H, Meyer KL, Kociok N, Joussen AM. Conditions of retinal glial and inflammatory cell activation after irradiation in a GFP-chimeric mouse model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;51(9):4831-9.

Kociok N, Radetzky S, Krohne TU, Gavranic C, Joussen AM. Pathological but not physiological retinal neovascularization is altered in TNF-Rp55-receptor-deficient mice. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006;47(11):5057-65.

Semkova I, Fauser S, Lappas A, Smyth N, Kociok N, Kirchhof B, Paulsson M, Poulaki V, Joussen AM. Overexpression of FasL in retinal pigment epithelial cellsreduces choroidal neovascularization. FASEB J. 2006;20(10):1689-91.

Joussen AM, Poulaki V, Le ML, Koizumi K, Esser C, Janicki H, Schraermeyer U, Kociok N, Fauser S, Kirchhof B, Kern TS, Adamis AP. A central role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. FASEB J. 2004;18(12):1450-2.