Andrew Kowalczyk, PhD
Department of Dermatology Endowed Professor, Dermatology
Professor, Cell and Biological Systems
Biography
The Kowalczyk lab studies how epithelial cells adhere to one another and what goes wrong when cell adhesion fails. We combine live-cell and super-resolution imaging with proximity proteomics, transcriptomics, and computational approaches to define the structure and dynamics of cell junctions with a focus on desmosomes and adherens junctions. Our recent finding that the endoplasmic reticulum associates with cell-cell adhesive junctions reveals a new link between organelle biology and the pathophysiology of inherited and autoimmune skin fragility disorders. We use an integrated approach to reveal fundamental biological principles that serve as foundations for the development of new therapies to treat human disorders characterized by dysfunctional cell adhesion and organelle signaling.