Biographical Info

Dr. Gordon received her BS in Chemistry (1973) and PhD. in the Rutgers-UMDNJ joint graduate program in Biochemistry in 1986. Dr. Gordon’s last year of graduate school was completed at Harvard Medical School in the Anatomy and Cell Biology Department, where she stayed to do post doctoral training. After a second post doctoral fellowship in the Anatomy and Cell Biology Department at Tufts Medical School she joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor, and remained there for 7 years. She came to the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in 1998, and is presently an Associate Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department.

Dr. Gordon has been continuously funded by NIH since 1988. She teaches the PharmD students in their P1 and P2 years in the Pathophysiology and in Pharmacology I and II courses. She has served on the thesis committees of 31 graduate students, and in her laboratory she has trained 2 MD research residents, 8 medical and graduate students (2 from Tufts Medical School), 13 pharmacy students (including 2 honors research students), as well as 1 MIT and 9 Rutgers undergraduate students. She has been thesis advisor to 1 M.S. student and 3 Ph.D. students in the Joint Program in Toxicology.

Dr. Gordon has served on the editorial boards for Developmental Dynamics, Anatomical Record, and on the editorial board of Matrix Biology. She currently serves on the Anterior Eye Disease Study Section of the NIH. She has been very active in the American Association of Anatomists, serving this national society as an executive officer for 5 years.

Research Areas

Dr. Gordon’s research examines corneal development and functional integrity as it relates to extracellular matrix. Projects involve the contribution of diverse collagens to corneal transparency, how they facilitate the attachment of epithelial and stromal cell layers, and what role the molecules play in wound healing. Dr. Gordon is also interested in collagen pathologies, especially fibrosis, in other organs. These investigations examine how Fibril-Associated Collagens with Interrupted Triple helices (FACITs) play a role in normal and pathological assembly of fibrils in the lung, liver, umbilical arteries and fetal membranes. The laboratory has also studied the roles of 3 transmembranous molecules, EMMPRIN, collagen XVII, and collagen XXIII, in development, wound healing, and cancer.

Research Highlights

Collagens, wound healing, fibrosis, corneal development, collagen pathologies, sulfur mustard injury, chemical counterterrorism

Scholarly Activities

• 1988-1991: Individual National Research Service Award: “Avian Cornea Developmental Regulation of Collagens”
• 1995: Invited to the laboratory of Dr. Ulla Wewer as an “Expert Guest Researcher” for collaborative research at the institute of Pathological Anatomy, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2000: Young Faculty Participation Award from the American Association of Anatomists
• 2000- : Faculty for the National Eye Institute sponsored course “Fundamental Issues in Vision Research,” at the Marine Biological Laboratories, Woodshole, MA (Topic: “Corneal Extracellular Matrix”). The National Eye Institute has direct input into course topics, sponsors the course, financially supports the students, and has a representative present during the entire course.
• 2000-2007: Co-director of the Signal Transduction Core of the NIEHS Center for Excellence at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
• 2002: Program organizer for the “Matrix and Morphogenesis” conference, Boston, MA
• 2004: appointed to the Editorial Board of Developmental Dynamics
• 2004: appointed to the Board of Reviewers for Anatomical Record
• 2004-2005: Member of the Federation of Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Excellence in Science Award committee
• 2004-2008: Elected to an executive position in a national society: Co-chair of the Program Committee of the American Association of Anatomists, a core member society of FASEB (the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology)
• 2007-2009: Invited by the Douglass Residence Campus Dean Carmen Twillie Ambar to be on the Faculty Advisory Committee for the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science and Engineering
• 2007- : Member of Advisory Cabinet for the “Fundamentals Issues in Vision Research” course, taught at the MBL in Woods Hole, MA
• 2007- Faculty advisor for Pharmacy Profession Fraternity, Alpha Zeta Omega
• 2008: Moderator for the American Association of Anatomists annual meeting Keynote Address by Harold f. Dvorak, MD, entitled “Angiogenesis: the Importance of Anatomy,” Experimental Biology 2008 meeting, San Diego, CA
• 2008: Symposium chair for “Deciphering the Actions of Angiogenesis Inhibitors: Surprises and New Directions,” American Association of Anatomists, Experimental Biology 2008 meeting, San Diego, CA
• 2008:  Moderator for the 36th Annual Scientific Session of the New Jersey Thoracic Society meeting
• 2008: Special Guest Editor for Developmental Dynamics volume 237, issue 10, special issue entitled: Special Focus on the Extracellular Matrix, in Memory of Dr. Elizabeth D. Hay
• 2008- : Co-director of the Diseases of the Integument Core, a unit of the NIEHS Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease
• 2009: Moderator for the symposium entitled “Corneal Wound Healing and Cell Biology” at the annual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting
• 2009-2013: NIH Center for Scientific Review regular standing study section member–Anterior Eye Disease

Recent Publications

1. Joseph, LB, Gordon, MK, Zhou, P, Hahn, RA, Lababidi, H, Croutch, CR, Sinko, PJ, Heck, DE, Laskin, DL, Laskin, JD et al.. Sulfur mustard corneal injury is associated with alterations in the epithelial basement membrane and stromal extracellular matrix. Exp Mol Pathol. 2022;128 :104807. doi: 10.1016/j.yexmp.2022.104807. PubMed PMID:35798063 PubMed Central PMC10044521
2. Joseph, LB, Gordon, MK, Kang, J, Croutch, CR, Zhou, P, Heck, DE, Laskin, DL, Laskin, JD. Characterization of the rabbit conjunctiva: Effects of sulfur mustard. Exp Mol Pathol. 2021;121 :104656. doi: 10.1016/j.yexmp.2021.104656. PubMed PMID:34081961 PubMed Central PMC9006340
3. DeSantis-Rodrigues, A, Hahn, RA, Zhou, P, Babin, M, Svoboda, KKH, Chang, YC, Gerecke, DR, Gordon, MK. SM1997 downregulates mustard-induced enzymes that disrupt corneal epithelial attachment. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2021;304 (9):1974-1983. doi: 10.1002/ar.24597. PubMed PMID:33554453 PubMed Central PMC11236088
4. Chang, YC, Hahn, RA, Gordon, MK, Laskin, JD, Gerecke, DR. A type IV collagenase inhibitor, N-hydroxy-3-phenyl-2-(4-phenylbenzenesulfonamido) propanamide (BiPS), suppresses skin injury induced by sulfur mustard. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2020;401 :115078. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2020.115078. PubMed PMID:32479919 PubMed Central PMC7470515
5. Chang, YC, Wang, JD, Chang, HY, Zhou, P, Hahn, RA, Gordon, MK, Laskin, JD, Gerecke, DR. Expression of Laminin γ2 Proteolytic Fragments in Murine Skin Following Exposure to Sulfur Mustard. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2020;303 (6):1642-1652. doi: 10.1002/ar.24405. PubMed PMID:32421930 PubMed Central PMC7394410
6. Svoboda, KKH, Gordon, MK. Extracellular matrix: The proteins that function throughout the body. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2020;303 (6):1509-1513. doi: 10.1002/ar.24404. PubMed PMID:32421924
7. Eveleth, DD, Eveleth, JJ, Subramaniam, A, Hahn, R, Zhou, P, Gordon, MK, Bradshaw, RA. An Engineered Human Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 Derivative, TTHX1114, Ameliorates Short-term Corneal Nitrogen Mustard Injury in Rabbit Organ Cultures. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2018;59 (11):4720-4730. doi: 10.1167/iovs.18-24568. PubMed PMID:30267094 PubMed Central PMC6155473
8. Chang, YC, Gordon, MK, Gerecke, DR. Expression of Laminin 332 in Vesicant Skin Injury and Wound Repair. Clin Dermatol (Wilmington). 2018;2 (1):. . PubMed PMID:30058002 PubMed Central PMC6063082
9. Chang, YC, Soriano, M, Hahn, RA, Casillas, RP, Gordon, MK, Laskin, JD, Gerecke, DR. Expression of cytokines and chemokines in mouse skin treated with sulfur mustard. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2018;355 :52-59. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2018.06.008. PubMed PMID:29935281 PubMed Central PMC6438172
10. Gordon, MK, DeSantis-Rodrigues, A, Hahn, R, Zhou, P, Chang, Y, Svoboda, KK, Gerecke, DR. The molecules in the corneal basement membrane zone affected by mustard exposure suggest potential therapies. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016;1378 (1):158-165. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13226. PubMed PMID:27737494 PubMed Central PMC5221489