Valerie Etzrodt

Valerie Etzrodt conducts mainly benchside research with translational aspects, committed to advancing the understanding of vascular dysfunction in acute illnesses such as sepsis and acute kidney injury. Her work focuses on how endothelial dysfunction drives systemic inflammation and multi-organ damage.

In the laboratory of Prof. Sascha David (now at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland), she investigated how endothelial signaling pathways are disrupted during sepsis, leading to vascular leakage and organ failure. Her work included studies on the Angiopoietin-2/Tie2 axis and the role of microRNA-155, both of which are key mediators of endothelial instability during systemic inflammation. Building on this foundation, she joined the lab of Prof. Samir M. Parikh at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where she deepened her understanding of vascular and metabolic injury in the context of inflammation, with an additional focus on acute kidney injury.

Her ongoing research project in Dallas centers on the tissue-specific role of NAMPT (nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase), a key enzyme in NAD⁺ metabolism, during acute systemic inflammation. By exploring how NAMPT regulates inflammatory and metabolic responses in different cell types, she aims to uncover new mechanism and potential therapeutic strategies to protect vascular integrity and prevent organ failure in critical illness—ultimately working to bridge the gap between bench and bedside.