Glenn Yiu, MD, PhD
Director, Tele-Ophthalmology
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology
University of California Davis
Project Title: Photoreceptor Reprogramming in an Optogenetic Model of Geographic Atrophy
Chronic oxidative retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) damage in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) leads to damage to rod photoreceptors and scotopic function loss in early disease, and later involve cones in more advanced stages like geographic atrophy (GA). This study will investigate photoreceptor structure and function in a novel optically-induced mouse model of GA, and then assess the effectiveness of reprogramming rods to cone-like cells using CRISPER-medicated gene ablation of the Nrl transcription factor as a neuroprotective strategy to prevent photoreceptor damage in GA.
