Area of Study / Keywords

Ophthalmic Genetics Inherited Retinal Diseases Retinal Pigment Epithelium Stem Cells Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorders

About

I am a clinician-scientist in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and I currently hold a Bayer Professorship in Translational Research in Ophthalmology appointment. My ophthalmology residency and graduate studies were completed at the University of Alberta. I received subspecialty fellowship training in ophthalmic genetics at the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. My clinical interests include ophthalmic genetics and strabismus.

Research

My lab investigates disease mechanisms of inherited retinal disorders and macular degeneration using cell culture-based techniques. Specifically, my lab is interested in understanding the role of peroxisomes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and how dysfunction of peroxisomes may cause retinal degeneration and blindness. Peroxisomes are subcellular organelles that have critical roles in lipid metabolism and cellular detoxification. My lab reprograms skin fibroblasts from patients with peroxisomal disorders into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The iPSCs are then differentiated into RPE cells where the consequence of peroxisome dysfunction is evaluated in a disease-relevant cell type. Ultimately, my lab aims to identify precision medicine approaches to restore vision in patients with inherited retinal diseases.