Dr. Kyle Poulsen Joins IIT-Affiliated Faculty

August 18, 2025

The IIT is pleased to welcome Dr. Kyle Poulsen as an affiliated faculty member. Dr. Poulsen is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He received his B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2008 from Eastern Michigan University before coming to MSU to pursue his Ph.D. Poulsen is a proud EITS alumnus. He completed the program in 2013 under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Roth and earned his dual major Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology and Envirnonmental Toxicology. He completed his postdoctoral training at Cleveland Clinic Foundation's Lerner Research Institute. 

Today Poulsen's translational research program in his laboratory investigates chronic liver disease. From mechanistic discovery through preclinical therapeutic design, Poulsen's lab employs state-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo models to test their hypotheses and develop new therapeutic strategies for unmet needs in chronic liver disease. Poulsen's pathway of interest, macrophage migration inhibitory factory (MIF) and its cognate receptor, CD74, are a dynamic mechanism of intercellular communication that is implicated in nearly every disease, despite the usual characterization of MIF-CD74 as an immune master switch. Poulsen's laboratory's work in models of chronic ethanol exposure have revealed a time- and context-dependent language of MIF-CD74 between the epithelial cells of the liver and the resident immune cells as well as infiltrating cells of the liver. They have uncovered that MIF can drive both maladaptive and protective mechanisms in the liver via immune cell infiltration and activation, intracellular stress responses, and more recently they have discovered that MIF directly decreases function of mitochondria.

Current research areas in the Poulsen lab include 1) deciphering the epithelial-immune language of MIF-CD74 in alcohol-related liver injury 2) studying interference anti-sense therapies against MIF and CD74 in cell-specific contexts 3) developing novel 3D spheroid/organoid models for liver disease in animal and in human stem cells and 4) studies into organellar transplantation as a therapeutic modality.  

To learn more about Dr. Poulsen, please visit: directory/poulsen-kyle.