University of South Florida · BiologyVascular Development and Therapeutics Unit
Saulius Sumanas · Tampa, Florida
Research Focus
Dr. Saulius Sumanas' research lab at the University of South Florida focuses on understanding how blood vessels form properly during development. They study proteins like She and Abl kinase, which are crucial for regulating the size of blood vessel lumens. By using zebrafish and human cell models, the lab aims to uncover the mechanisms behind vascular diseases and develop new therapeutic strategies for conditions such as venous malformations.
vascular developmenttubulogenesisAbl kinaseSHE proteinvenous malformation
Research Aims
3AIM 01Determine how She regulates vascular tubulogenesis
AIM 02Explore the interaction between She and Abl kinase signaling
AIM 03Investigate potential therapies using SHE to reduce lumen size in venous malformations.
Skills the Lab Values
Zebrafish modelscell culturebiochemical assaysmolecular cloningin vivo imagingprotein interaction studiesgenetic mutants analysischemical inhibitorsprimary cell isolationdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications80bottom 23% of dept.786th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.6kbottom 19% of dept.834th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.