Haydee  E. P.  Bazan, Ph.D.

Positions

1965-1966 — Research Fellow, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York.

1967-1968 — Research Assistant, Department of Biological Chemistry, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, MA.

1970-1977 — Instructor, Department of Biology, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca, Argentina.

1977-1981 — Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahia Blanca, Argentina.

1981-1988 — Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU Medical Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans.

1988-1993 — Associate Professor, in Ophthalmology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, LSU Medical Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans.

1993-present — Professor, in Ophthalmology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, LSU Medical Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans.

Awards

Elected Board member, LSU Medical Center Sigma Xi, 1990-92.

Role Model Young Leadership Council, New Orleans, 2003.

Honorary Alumnus, LSU School of Medicine, 2008.

Excellence in Mentoring, 2008.

ARVO Fellow, 2009.

ARVO Gold Fellow, 2019 press release

100 Ophthalmologist Power List, 2022.

Haydee E.P. Bazan, PhD – recipient of ARVO Fellow award 2019

Dr. Haydee Bazan and Dr. He on the cover of IOVS, June 2019

CLick on cover to see article

Research Interests and Goals

Signal transduction mechanisms of lipids and growth factors involved in inflammation and repair during corneal wound healing.

Mechanisms of neuroregeneration for the understanding and treatment of complications generated by nerve damage.

Study Sections

• NIH, National Eye Institute, Special Emphasis Panel, reviewer-2008.
• NIH, National Eye Institute, AED, reviewer-2010.
• AED, National Eye Institute, NIH, Ad hoc reviewer-2010.
• NIH, NEI Institute ZEY1, VSN, reviewer-2012.
• ZEY1 VSN, National Eye Institute, NIH, Ad hoc reviewer-2012.
• NIH, NEI Institute DPVS, reviewer-2013.
• DPVS, National Eye Institute, NIH-2013.
• Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Ad hoc reviewer-2013.
• Fondo para la Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (FONCYT), Buenos Aires, Argentina-2013.
• PhD Studentship, Fight and Sight, London, UK-2013.
• Sensory Panel, SBIR, National Eye Institute, NIH-2014.
• ZRG1 Special Emphasis Panel, NHLBI, NIH, Ad hoc reviewer-2015.
• ZRG1, ETTN-12 Aging and Development, Auditory, Vision and Low Vision Technologies, NEI-NIH, Ad hoc reviewer, 2015.
• ZEY1, VSN, NEI Center Core Grants and Pathways to Independence Awards, Ad hoc reviewer, 2015.
• ZRG1, BDCN-R, NEI Pathophysiology of Eye Diseases, Ad hoc reviewer-2017.
• ZEY, VSN, NEI Pathways to Independence Grant Applications, Ad hoc reviewer-2017.
• ZRG1, BDCN, NEI-Ocular Surface, Ad hoc reviewer-2017.
• ZRG1, BDCNJ, NEI-Ocular Surface, Ad hoc reviewer-2018.
• ZRG1, BDCN-R, NEI-Special Emphasis Panel, Vision Impairments, Optic Neuropathy, Retinopathies, and Cornea Responses to Wound and Infections, Ad hoc reviewer- 2018.
• ZRG1, BDCN-R Special Emphasis Panel, Vision Impairment, Optic Neuropathy, Retinopathies, and Corneal Responses to Wound and Infections, Ad hoc reviewer-2018.
• ZRG1, BDCN-R, Special Emphasis Panel, Retinopathies, Cornea Regeneration and Strabismus, Reviewer-2019.
• NEI Pathophysiology of Eye Disease, reviewer-2021.
• ZRG1, F04B Fellowships: Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, reviewer-2021.

Current Research

Dr. Haydee E.P Bazan's laboratory studies lipid second messengers in the cornea, particularly platelet activating factor (PAF), a potent lipid mediator of inflammatory and immunological responses and lipoxygenease derivatives from the arachidonic cascade. The laboratory has demonstrated that PAF is generated in retina and cornea after injury (e.g., laser photocoagulation, chemical burns in the eye) and that PAF mediates its action through receptors.

  Dr. Bazan's laboratory has discovered that this particular lipid induces the expression of selective metalloproteinases (MMPs) – MMP-9, MMP-1 and MT1-MMP – involved in the degradation of components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that are very important in the process of tissue repair. PAF also induces the expression of genes such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), increasing the synthesis of prostaglandins and producing sustained inflammation in the eye. On the other hand, 12/15 lipoxygenease derivatives are mediators in the repair action of EGF after corneal injury.

  Another research interest is the study of cell signal transduction events during corneal wound healing, particularly how specific growth factors (HGF, KGF and EGF) are released during injury activate kinases and phosphatases to communicate their signals from the cell membrane to the nuclei.

A third project  in the laboratory is the action of lipid mediators derived from docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in combination with pigment epithelial derived growth factor (PEDF) on nerve regrowth after corneal wounding  We discovery a new novel lipid mediator that is part of the signaling mechanism exerted by PEDF+DHA on the ocular surface, a resolvin D6 -isomer  (RvD6si). This new lipid induce a specific transcriptome in the trigeminal ganglia after corneal injury increasing genes involved in axon growth and decreasing genes related to neuropathic pain

  Because corneal nerves are important in the maintenance of corneal integrity and prevention of dry eye following surgery,   RvD6si opens up new therapeutic avenues for pathologies that affect corneal innervation. Several animal models, as well as cells and organ cultures, are used. Analytical procedures such as liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, a variety of molecular biology techniques such as sc-RNA seq, real time PCR, siRNAs, Western blot, immunoprecipitations, kinase assays and immuno-fluorescence are employed.