Rodrigo Morales Castro

Rodrigo Morales Castro

Assistant Professor
Visiting address: ,
Postal address: H5 Laboratoriemedicin, H5 Klin immunologi Bergman, 141 52 Huddinge

About me

  • My research goal is to understand the basis of inflammatory responses during tissue damage at a cellular and molecular level, and specifically investigate how different immune players modulate tissue repair and regeneration. I have specialized in the application of zebrafish models to study in real-time the role of immune cells during tissue damage and regeneration. I joined Karolinska Institutet with the goal of developing new zebrafish models to study in vivo the immunological mechanisms leading to the initiation and treatment of chronic intestinal pathologies, such as Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). My long-term goal is to address with zebrafish clinically relevant questions which remain challenging due to the limitations of classical animal models or in vitro approaches. 

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Red blood cells as modulators of inflammation and tissue regeneration
    Åke Wibergs Stiftelse
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025
    Red blood cells (RBCs) are the most abundant blood cell type and play an essential role in transporting oxygen throughout the body. Historically, RBCs were believed to function uniquely as oxygen carries, but recent evidence suggest that they may also play active roles in immune responses and wound healing. This proposal aims to investigate the role of RBCs in inflammation and tissue regeneration, focusing on the molecular mechanisms by which RBCs influence inflammatory responses, control pathogen invasion, and promote wound healing. Using a zebrafish model of tissue injury, I have observed that RBCs accumulate at the injury site during the inflammatory phase, despite oxygen exchange in zebrafish larvae occurring independently of RBCs. Therefore, my proposal is build under the hypothesis that RBC recruitment to injured tissues is an active process that supports inflammation and tissue repair. This proposal will combine live imaging, transcriptomic analyses, and functional experiments, to explore the specific functions of RBCs in wound-related inflammation and tissue regeneration. The outcomes of this study are highly relevant, as it could uncover previously unappreciated immunological functions of RBCs, potentially opening new therapeutical avenues for treating wound infections and promoting wound healing.
  • A zebrafish-based platform to study the genetic-environment crosstalk during intestinal inflammation and regeneration
    Marcus Borgströms Stiftelse
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023
  • Developing a zebrafish-based model to study intestinal regeneration in vivo
    KI Research Foundation
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2023
  • Using zebrafish to visualize in vivo the genetic-environment crosstalk in the initiation of Inflammatory bowel disease
    Marcus Borgströms Stiftelse
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2022
  • Addressing the activity of human IBD-risk non-coding regions after exposure to environmental factors in vivo
    KI Research Foundation
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2021

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2028
  • Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2020-2024

Degrees and Education

  • PhD, Cell, Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Chile, 2018

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