Available Mentors

Jianhai Du, Ph.D., Associate Professor

Our lab integrates multidisciplinary approaches including mass spectrometry, stable isotope tracers, gene editing, animal models and stem cell technology to study the roles of metabolic regulation and dys-regulation in the heathy and diseased retinas.

Kevin Courtney, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Our lab is researching mechanisms of neurodegeneration caused by disruptions in membrane trafficking and fusion in mammalian cells. We combine in vitro biochemistry/biophysics with advanced fluorescence microscopy of live cells to elucidate mechanisms of disease. Presently, a major emphasis is on understanding how disruptions in a sub-cellular degradation system, known as autophagy, is implicated in neurodegenerative disease.

Visvanathan Ramamurthy, Ph.D., Professor

Biochemical mechanisms behind gene mutations that result in photoreceptor cell death; Protein methylation in neurons; Gene therapy for blinding diseases.

Ezequiel Salido, MD/PhD., Assistant Professor

Our laboratory explores the extracellular matrix (ECM) and its crucial role in neuroscience. Our main area of research is the retina, where neuronal photoreceptor cells and glial cells communicate through a specialized extracellular matrix known as the Interphotoreceptor Matrix (IPM). This matrix actively participates in retinal health and disease. Our research is dedicated to decoding the complex roles of the IPM, its composition, and its synthesis. We endeavor to elucidate how the IPM contributes to the progression of visual impairments, such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and retinitis pigmentosa. Our laboratory utilizes advanced techniques and methodologies, including genetically modified mouse models, high-resolution microscopy, optical coherence tomography, electrophysiology, adenovirus-mediated gene expression in mice, genetherapy, and various biochemical techniques to analyze protein interactions. We also employ proteomics, RNA sequencing, and metabolomics. Our research, besides its potential to cure blinding diseases, has a broad impact on diverse scientific fields, such as aging, neurodegeneration, biomaterials, brain-machine interfaces, 3D tissue culture, and computational neuroscience.