60677-Feinberg, Konstantin

Konstantin Feinberg, PhD

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

Email
kofein@iu.edu
Address
Van Nuys Medical Science Building, 635 Barnhill St
MS 2059
Indianapolis, IN 46202
PubMed:

Bio

Konstantin Feinberg, PhD, assistant professor of surgery and adjunct assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Feinberg’s research is driven by a longstanding interest in understanding how the nervous system maintains its structural and functional integrity, responds to injury, and regulates the tissues with which it interacts. Two closely connected themes run throughout his work: neuronal survival and regeneration, and communication between neuronal and non-neuronal cell populations within the nervous system and in the tissues it innervates.

Dr. Feinberg’s research spans molecular and cellular neuroscience, axon and glial biology, developmental neurobiology, stem cell and regenerative biology, and the development of therapeutic strategies for nerve injury and nerve-dependent tissue degeneration. His laboratory investigates several complementary aspects of these questions, including neural and glial regulation of corneal epithelial renewal, the consequences of impaired protein glycosylation for nervous system development, and the molecular mechanisms that determine whether axons survive, regenerate, or undergo degeneration.

During his graduate studies, Dr. Feinberg helped define mechanisms that govern the formation and maintenance of nodes of Ranvier, including the role of gliomedin and NrCAM in sodium channel clustering and maintenance. During his postdoctoral training, he developed functional Schwann cells from skin-derived mesenchymal precursors, demonstrated their potential to support remyelination after peripheral nerve injury, and identified foretinib as a neuroprotective compound that revealed a previously unknown pro-degenerative role for TrkA signaling.

More recently, his work has established sensory innervation as a critical regulator of corneal epithelial renewal and identified Schwann cells as key regulators of the corneal epithelial stem cell niche. His research has received federal, foundation, and institutional support, including NIH/NEI R01 funding, awards from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and Knights Templar Eye Foundation, support from the National Endowment for Plastic Surgery, Department of Defense-funded research in peripheral nerve regeneration, and earlier support from Fighting Blindness Canada. His laboratory continues to investigate communication among nerves, glial cells, and tissue-resident stem cells to develop mechanism-based approaches that promote regeneration and prevent pathological degeneration.

Key Publications

Hussain A, Tajdaran K, Katturajan R, Mirmoeini K, Crabtree J, Quddam AI, Wu X, Blum N, Konig DJ, Pepose JS, Ali A, Shalom-Feuerstein R, Gordon T, Kaplan DR, Borschel GH, Feinberg K. (2026). A Nerve-Dependent NGF Receptor Switch Controls Corneal Epithelial Renewal in Neurotrophic Keratopathy.
bioRxiv [Preprint]. doi:10.64898/2026.06.30.735622.

Crabtree JR, Mulenga CM, Tran K, Feinberg K, Santerre PJ, Borschel GH. (2024). Biohacking Nerve Repair: Novel Biomaterials, Local Drug Delivery, Electrical Stimulation, and Allografts to Aid Surgical Repair.
Bioengineering, 11(8):776.

Feinberg K, Tajdaran K, Mirmoeini K, Daeschler SC, Henriquez MA, Stevens KE, Mulenga CM, Hussain A, Hamrah P, Ali A, Gordon T, Borschel GH. (2023). The Role of Sensory Innervation in Homeostatic and Injury-Induced Corneal Epithelial Renewal.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(16):12615.

Mirmoeini K, Tajdaran K, Zhang J, Gordon T, Ali A, Kaplan DR, Feinberg K, Borschel GH. (2023). Schwann Cells Are Key Regulators of Corneal Epithelial Renewal.
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 64(4):7.

Daeschler SC, Mirmoeini K, Gordon T, Chan K, Zhang J, Ali A, Feinberg K, Borschel GH. (2022). Sustained Release of Tacrolimus From a Topical Drug Delivery System Promotes Corneal Reinnervation.
Translational Vision Science & Technology, 11(8):20.

Daeschler SC, Zhang J, Gordon T, Borschel GH, Feinberg K. (2022). Foretinib Mitigates Cutaneous Nerve Fiber Loss in Experimental Diabetic Neuropathy.
Scientific Reports, 12(1):8444.

Feinberg K, Kolaj A, Wu C, Grinshtein N, Krieger JR, Moran MF, Rubin LL, Miller FD, Kaplan DR. (2017). A Neuroprotective Agent That Inactivates Pro-degenerative TrkA and Preserves Mitochondria. Journal of Cell Biology, 216(11):3655–3675.

Feinberg K, Eshed-Eisenbach Y, Frechter S, Amor V, Salomon D, Sabanay H, Dupree JL, Grumet M, Brophy PJ, Shrager P, Peles E. (2010). A Glial Signal Consisting of Gliomedin and NrCAM Clusters Axonal Na+ Channels During the Formation of Nodes of Ranvier. Neuron, 65:490–502.

Feinberg K, Fineberg T, Graessmann A, Luedtke NW, Tor Y, Lixin R, Jans DA, Loyter A. (2003). Inhibition of Nuclear Import Mediated by the Rev-Arginine Rich Motif by RNA Molecules. Biochemistry, 42:2625–2633.

View all published work from Konstantin Feinberg, PhD

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