PhD Defence Sharon D’Souza

Keywords: Immunology, ocular surface, disease modulation
 

"Investigating immune cell trafficking on the ocular surface and its correlation to disease stage and treatment outcome"

This PhD work describes the interaction of immune cells like neutrophils and T cells on the surface of the eye, which have a role to play in the onset of various diseases. They interact with structural cells and corneal nerves and release molecular factors that further worsen or improve the condition in diseases like dry eye, keratoconus, stevens-johnson syndrome, and corneal transplant. Understanding this using an easy-to-use technique of ocular wash directly in the eye simplifies access to this information. Until now most of the knowledge we have about this work is obtained from animal experiments or laboratory-based studies. Mapping the unique immune cell patterns in different diseases directly from the human eye surface, improves the options for targeted treatment in the future.

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