The pathophysiological role of complement regulation in disease.

The body’s immune system has a built-in alarm called complement—a cascade of proteins that tags and destroys threats—but when that alarm gets stuck in the “on” position, it attacks healthy tissue, driving kidney disease, blindness from age-related macular degeneration, and meningitis. This research tackles a specific gap: scientists know complement dysregulation causes damage, but they do not fully understand which of the many complement-related proteins are responsible, especially in the kidney. The researcher will create new mouse models that lack or overproduce particular complement factor H-related proteins, then watch what happens to the kidneys. That allows them to pinpoint exactly which proteins trigger injury and to test whether existing or experimental drugs can stop it. If the work succeeds, it could validate new treatments for complement-driven kidney disease—a condition with few effective therapies today. Because the same complement pathways go awry in macular degeneration and meningitis, the findings would also guide drug development for those conditions. This is fundamental science with a clear translational path: understanding the precise molecular culprits in a controlled system before moving to human trials.