Diana Mitchell

The Mitchell lab is interested in innate immune cell function in the central nervous system. Central to our diverse research interests are the microglia, which are resident macrophages found in the brain and retina of vertebrates. We seek to understand the dynamics and functions of microglia during tissue development, in contexts of degeneration or tissue injury, their interactions with other cell types (in particular, other glial cells), and their function in regeneration of damaged tissue. Most of our work examines these topics in the retina, as this tissue is comprised of stereotypically organized and well-described neurons and glial cells. Our research has importance in understanding the basis of neurodegenerative disease, design of therapeutic treatments, and advances towards regenerative therapies in humans. We use the zebrafish as our model organism and we apply a variety of approaches to answer our questions, including static and real-time microscopy, transgenesis, next generation sequencing, and gene targeting.

Learn more about our research and lab group here: www.mitchelllabuofi.com

• PhD, Microbiology & Immunology
  University of Utah, 2012

• Postdoc, Cell Biology
  University of Tennessee, 2012-2014

• Research Assistant Professor, Retinal Biology
  University of Idaho, 2014-2017

• College of Science Early Career Faculty Award, 2020-2021