Lew Kaplan, PhD
Department of Biological Structure
University of Washington
PROJECT TITLE: Derivation of cultured RPE from human fetal tissue, 3D organoids, and directed differentiation for the purpose of RPE to photoreceptor reprogramming
Dr. Kaplan trained in Germany, at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he received his PhD degree. His prior training in glial cell biology, and particularly in Müller glial cells, in the lab of Professor Antje Grosche, provided a strong basis for the work he has proposed. In his thesis research, published in the journal GLIA, he compared proteomic data from Müller glia of human and mouse to determine the proteins that differ between cone-rich and rod-rich retinas. He found that the protein epiplakin was an important factor in maintaining the macular architecture via its expression in Müller glia. This was the first demonstration of a macular-specific Müller glial protein that is important in the unique architecture of this important retinal region.
Dr. Thomas Reh, Dr. Kaplan’s sponsor for the Award, says of him, “As for his potential as a scientist, Dr. Kaplan shows great promise. In addition to his outstanding technical skillset, he is extremely motivated to succeed. The project that Dr. Kaplan has proposed is based on work from lower vertebrates that shows the potential of RPE cells to serve as a source of neural retina regeneration. Dr. Kaplan’s proposal outlines a series of studies to explore this possibility in human RPE cells. His initial results show for the first time that human RPE can be reprogrammed by transcription factors to regenerate new neurons, and in the next years he will determine what types of neurons can be generated by these cells.”