daniel_sun@meei.harvard.edu
For investigator inquiries only
About My Research
Center/Research Area Affiliations
Biography
Dr. Sun’s research interests grew while he was completing his optometry degree in Melbourne, Australia, so much so, that he moved to Boston and pursued research fulltime. His work on glaucoma, the optic nerve and astrocyte biology began in 2007 when he joined Richard Maslands lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. During this time, he characterized with great detail the morphological characteristics of optic nerve astrocytes in both normal and diseased eyes, something that had not been done with much clarity before.
He now studies various signaling pathways that may regulate these astrocytic changes. The overall goal of his research is to understand the function and mechanisms of astrocyte reactivity within the retina and optic nerve, with the goal of determining whether it is better to enhance or reduce certain aspects of their activity during disease. He uses various models of experiment glaucoma and traumatic optic nerve injury. His expertise lies in cell biology, cell imaging, functional assays and animal models. His has been supported by the Fight for Sight Grants-in-Aid, the Brightfocus Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health R01.
Education
2002: MS, Optometry, University of Melbourne, Australia
2007: PhD, Optometry, University of Melbourne, Australia
Postgraduate Training
2007-2009: Postdoctoral Fellowship (Richard Masland, PhD), Massachusetts General Hospital
2009-2012: Postdoctoral Fellowship (Tatjana Jakobs, MD PhD), Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
- Astrocytes of the optic nerve exhibit a region-specific and temporally distinct response to elevated intraocular pressure. Mol Neurodegener. 2023 Sep 27; 18(1):68.
- Rapid isolation of intact retinal astrocytes: a novel approach. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2023 09 25; 11(1):154.
- Astrocytes in the Optic Nerve Are Heterogeneous in Their Reactivity to Glaucomatous Injury. Cells. 2023 08 23; 12(17).
- Astrocytes of the eye and optic nerve: heterogeneous populations with unique functions mediate axonal resilience and vulnerability to glaucoma. Front Ophthalmol (Lausanne). 2023; 3.
- Astrocyte heterogeneity within white matter tracts and a unique subpopulation of optic nerve head astrocytes. iScience. 2022 Dec 22; 25(12):105568.
- Microglia depletion exacerbates retinal ganglion cell loss in a mouse model of glaucoma. Exp Eye Res. 2022 12; 225:109273.
- Total Knee Arthroplasty Hospital Costs by Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing: Robotic vs Conventional. Arthroplast Today. 2022 Feb; 13:43-47.
- Visualizing Astrocytes of the Optic Nerve. Methods Mol Biol. 2018; 1695:269-286.
- Optic nerve astrocyte reactivity protects function in experimental glaucoma and other nerve injuries. J Exp Med. 2017 05 01; 214(5):1411-1430.
- Astrocytes in the optic nerve head express putative mechanosensitive channels. Mol Vis. 2015; 21:749-66.
- Isolation of intact astrocytes from the optic nerve head of adult mice. Exp Eye Res. 2015 Aug; 137:103-10.
- Reversible reactivity by optic nerve astrocytes. Glia. 2013 Aug; 61(8):1218-35.
- Morphology of astrocytes in a glaucomatous optic nerve. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2013 Feb 01; 54(2):909-17.
- Structural remodeling of astrocytes in the injured CNS. Neuroscientist. 2012 Dec; 18(6):567-88.
- Structural remodeling of fibrous astrocytes after axonal injury. J Neurosci. 2010 Oct 20; 30(42):14008-19.
- The morphology and spatial arrangement of astrocytes in the optic nerve head of the mouse. J Comp Neurol. 2009 Sep 01; 516(1):1-19.
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