Rutgers University-New Brunswick · PharmacologyThe Lung Healing Lab
Debra L Laskin · New Brunswick, New Jersey
Research Focus
Dr. Debra L Laskin's research lab focuses on understanding how inflammation in the lungs can lead to chronic diseases like asthma and COPD, particularly due to exposure to ozone, a common air pollutant. The lab studies macrophages, which are immune cells that can either promote inflammation or help resolve it. They are investigating ways to encourage these cells to shift from a pro-inflammatory state to a healing state, hoping to find new strategies to prevent lung injury and improve public health outcomes.
chronic lung diseasemacrophagesinflammationozone toxicityasthmaCOPDimmune responsepublic healthmetabolic reprogramming
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate how chronic ozone exposure affects macrophage function in lung inflammation.
AIM 02Explore the mechanisms related to macrophage metabolic reprogramming from pro-inflammatory M1 to pro-resolution M2.
AIM 03Determine the role of nuclear receptors in macrophage activation and inflammation resolution.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureanimal modelsPCRflow cytometryWestern blotRNA sequencinggene expression analysismicroscopybioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications602top 7% of dept.31st of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations18ktop 21% of dept.98th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.