A5078195557- Retinal Development and Disorders
- CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Pluripotent Stem Cells Research
- Photochromic and Fluorescence Chemistry
- Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- 3D Printing in Biomedical Research
- Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
Fleet Science Center
2023
University of California, San Diego
2021-2023
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
2021
Providence College
2020
Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) represent a powerful tool to investigate human eye development and disease. When grown in 3D, they can self-assemble into laminar organized retinas; however, variation the size, shape composition of individual organoids exists. Neither microenvironment nor timing critical growth factors driving retinogenesis are fully understood. To explore early retinal development, we developed SIX6-GFP reporter that enabled systematic optimization conditions promote...
In optic neuropathies, including glaucoma, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) die. Cell transplantation and endogenous regeneration offer strategies for repair, however, developmental programs required this to succeed are incompletely understood. To address this, we explored cellular reprogramming with transcription factor (TF) regulators of RGC development which were integrated into human pluripotent stem (PSCs) as inducible gene cassettes. When the pioneer NEUROG2 was combined RGC-expressed TFs...
Retinogenesis involves the specification of retinal cell types during early vertebrate development. While model organisms have been critical for determining role dynamic chromatin and cell-type specific transcriptional networks this process, an enhanced understanding developing human retina has more elusive due to requirement fetal tissue. Pluripotent stem (PSC) derived organoids offer experimentally accessible solution investigating retina. To investigate cellular molecular changes in...
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women United States. This experiment provides insight on how using metabolites derived naturally from microbiome can influence cardiac inflammation. 3D cardiomyocytes were human induced pluripotent stem cells through utilization small molecules growth factors. Quantitative PCR was performed to verify that organoids expressed genes associated with cardiomyocyte cells. Primers for PGK1, LDHA, BNIP3, c‐JUN used qPCR, as these are more...