USF PEDIATRICS NEONATOLOGY LABORATORIES

Areas of general research interest

The USF Neonatology Research laboratory was established by Lewis P. Rubin, MD. in 2008 when he joined USF as the Pamela and Leslie Muma Professor of Pediatrics and chief of the USF Division of Neonatology. The laboratories are part of the USF/All Children’s Hospital Children’s Research Institute located on the All Children’s Hospital campus in St. Petersburg. A long term goal of the Rubin laboratory is to understand interactions of environmental cues, genetics and cell biology in mammalian development, especially the placenta, lung and cardiovascular system. The laboratory’s principal focus is how specific dietary carotenoids, a class of biologically active micronutrients, regulate tissue-specific vitamin A production, response to oxidant stress, and target gene expression. Current projects include transcriptional control and the function of splice variants of the two carotenoid cleavage enzymes; receptor-mediated carotenoid uptake using specific receptor null mouse lines and RNA silencing; and molecular mechanisms of lycopene and metabolites in atherosclerosis and prostate cancer. A second, related area involves the impact of maternal stress on fetal growth, maturation and developmental programming. These projects utilize a variety of genomic, proteomic, biochemical and biophysical approaches, microscopy, and genetically engineered animal models. There are active collaborations with other investigators in the Children's Research Institute, USF Colleges of Medicine and Public Health, Moffitt Cancer Center and internationally. Opportunities are available for undergraduate, graduate and professional students and postdoctoral and medical subspecialty trainees.