Dr. Pastor-Soler is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. Her current primary research interest is in the regulation of transport and metabolism in polycystic kidney disease (PKD), at the basic and translational level. Her team is currently involved in the implementation of the Bempedoic Acid Therapy for PKD (BEAT-PKD) study, a randomized placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial (a Phase II trial).

She has also studied acid-base physiology via tthe study of the vacuolar proton-ATPase (V-ATPase). This protein complex is relevant to the normal physiology of epithelia and to the luminal acidification of kidney tubules and the male reproductive tract (epididymis/vas deferens). Dr. Pastor-Soler has studied the role of PKA in signaling of the V-ATPase downstream of the bicarbonate-sensing soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) in kidney and epididymal cells. She has identified functionally relevant PKA phosphorylation sites in V-ATPase subunits. In addition, her laboratory studies the role of the metabolic sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the regulation of proton secretion in epithelial cells. Her team has also identified target AMPK phosphorylation sites in V-ATPase subunits. In addition, Dr. Pastor-Soler has adapted the classical ex vivo kidney slices technique to examine intracellular trafficking of the V-ATPase and a variety of other transport proteins in situ in kidney tissue. Dr. Pastor-Soler’s findings have had significant impact on our understanding of the regulation of proton secretion in the kidney during acidotic states, as well as the regulation of proton transport in the male reproductive tract, which has a critical role in sperm maturation and male fertility.