Research Statement
Dr. Petroll's goal as a scientist is to apply his background as a biomedical engineer to the investigation of fundamental clinical and biological problems in ophthalmology, while providing training to students and post-docs in a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment. Broadly, his research interests include corneal wound healing, imaging, cell motility and tissue engineering. The main focus of Dr. Petroll's cell mechanics research is to use multidimensional time-lapse imaging to investigate how the biomechanical behavior of corneal fibroblasts is regulated by both biochemical and biophysical stimuli. Dr. Petroll also has a longstanding interest in the application of clinical confocal microscopy to assess the clinical responses to corneal infection, injury and refractive surgical procedures.
