Eric Larson, PhD
Research Activities
Chemosensory Transduction Laboratory
My primary research interests are in understanding how solitary chemosensory cells (SCCs) in the nasal respiratory epithelium detect airborne irritants and signal to their surrounding tissues and the nervous system to evoke local inflammatory responses. In particular, I am interested in the complement of membrane receptors SCCs express, their intracellular signaling pathways, and their innervation patters.
I am investigating this using single cell RNA sequencing, and high resolution light sheet microscopy coupled with optical tissue clearing. Understanding different mechanisms of how this cell population detects harmful aerosolized compounds will be important to future translational studies investigating mechanisms of upper airway disorders including chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma, and AERD.
