Renu Kowluru
Position title
Professor and Director of Translational Research
Office location
K404, Kresge Eye Institute
4717 St Antione, Detroit, MI
Office phone
(313) 993-6714 (O)
(313) 577-0744 (L)
Biography
Renu Kowluru, PhD, FARVO, is a Professor and Director of Translational Research in the department of Ophthalmology and Visual & Anatomical Sciences. Her laboratory investigates the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the development of diabetic retinopathy, focusing mainly on understanding how diabetes damages retinal mitochondria and how the damaged mitochondria lead to the development of retinopathy. Her pioneering work has shown that the damaged mitochondrial DNA in diabetes leads to a self-propagating vicious cycle of free radicals, which contributes to the failure of retinopathy to arrest even after hyperglycemic insult is terminated (‘metabolic memory’ phenomenon). She was the first to show the role mitochondrial epigenetics in the development of diabetic retinopathy. In 2021, she was recognized as the top 0.1% of scholars writing about Diabetes Complications over the past 10 years, a level labeled as “World Expert" by Expertscape's PubMed-based algorithms. Dr. Kowluru is selected by Research.com for inclusion in its 2025 edition of ‘World’s Best Scientists’ in the field of Medicine, and in Biology and Biochemistry.
Based on her outstanding excellence in scholarship and in creative achievement, in 2011 Dr. Kowluru was inducted in the Wayne State University’s ‘Academy of Scholars’. She co-chaired National Eye Institute’s 2020 Strategic Planning Committee ‘From Genes to Disease Mechanisms’. Dr. Kowluru served on ‘National Eye Advisory Council’, National Institutes of Health from 2020-2024. She serves on the Board of Governors of the Foundation for Vision Research, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO); American Diabetes Association’s Advisory Group ‘Women in Diabetes’ and ‘Eye Health Interest Group Leadership Team’; Juvenile Diabetes foundation’s ‘Restoring Vision Moonshot Initiative - Basic and Cellular Mechanisms Working Group’, Member- Mary Tyler Moore Vision- Collaborative Community on Ophthalmic Innovation "Diabetic Retinal Disease Cure Accelerator" Working Group, and ARVO’s ‘Women’s Leadership Development’ Program.
Grants
R01 EY014370, R01 EY017313, R01 EY022230, R01 EY033516
Thomas Foundation
Links of interest
Selected publications
- Madsen-Bouterse SA, Mohammad G, Kanwar M, Kowluru RA. Role of Mitochondrial DNA damage in the development of diabetic retinopathy, and the metabolic memory phenomenon associated with its progression. Antioxid Redox Signal 13:797-805, 2010
- Zhong Q, Kowluru RA. Epigenetic changes in mitochondrial superoxide dismutase in the retina, and the development of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 60:1304-1313, 2011
- Santos JM, Tewari S, Goldberg AF, Kowluru RA. Mitochondria biogenesis and the development of diabetic retinopathy. Free Rad Biol Med 51: 1849-1860, 2011
- Tewari S, Santos JM and Kowluru RA. Damaged mitochondrial DNA replication system and the development of diabetic retinopathy. Antioxid Redox Signal, 17:492-504, 2012
- Mishra M, Kowluru RA. Retinal mitochondrial DNA mismatch repair in the development of diabetic retinopathy, and its continued progression after termination of hyperglycemia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 55: 6960-6967, 2014
- Kumar B, Kowluru A, Kowluru RA. Lipotoxicity augments glucotoxicity-induced mitochondrial damage in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56: 2985-2992, 2015
- Mishra M, Lillvis J, Tewari S, Kowluru R. Peripheral blood mitochondrial DNA damage as a potential noninvasive biomarker of diabetic retinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 57:4035-4044, 2016
- Mishra M, Duraisamy AJ, Kowluru RA. Sirt1- A guardian of the development of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 67:745-754, 2018
- Kowluru RA. Mitochondrial stability in diabetic retinopathy: Lessons learned from epigenetics. Diabetes 68:141-247, 2019
- Duraisamy AJ, Mohammad G, Kowluru RA. Mitochondrial fusion and maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis in diabetic retinopathy. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 1865:1617-1626, 2019
- Ferrington DA, Fisher CR, Kowluru RA. Mitochondrial defects drive degenerative retinal diseases. Trends in Mol Dis 26:105-118, 2020
- Mohammad G, Kowluru RA. Homocysteine disrupts balance between MMP-9 and its tissue inhibitor in diabetic retinopathy: The role of DNA methylation. Int J Mol Sci 21: E1771, 2020
- Radhakrishnan R, Kowluru RA. Long noncoding RNA MALAT1 and regulation of the antioxidant defense system in diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 70: 1-13, 2021
- Kowluru RA, Mohammad G. Epigenetic modifications in diabetes. Metabolism 126:154920, 2022
- Kumar J, Mohammad G, Alka K, Kowluru R. Mitochondrial genome-encoded long noncoding RNA and mitochondrial stability in diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes 72:520-531, 2023
- Kowluru RA. Cross talks between oxidative stress, inflammation and epigenetics in diabetic retinopathy. Cells 12:300, 2023 (PMID: 36672234)
- Malaviya P, Kowluru RA. Diabetic retinopathy and regulation of mitochondrial glutathione-glutathione peroxidase axis in hyperhomocysteinemia. Antioxidants 13:254, 2024. doi: 10.3390/antiox13030254
- Malaviya P, Kumar J, Kowluru RA. Role of ferroptosis in mitochondrial damage in diabetic retinopathy. Free Rad Biol Med 225:821-832, 2024
- Kumar J, Malaviya P, Kowluru R. Long noncoding RNAs and metabolic memory associated with continued progression of diabetic retinopathy. J Diabetes 16(11):e70009. 2024 doi: 10.1111/1753-0407.70009