To investigate and dissect the cellular and molecular biology of retinal diseases and disorders, with the goal to develop novel and targeted therapies using drug development and precision medicine.

Photoreceptor Outer Segment Morphogenesis & Inherited Retinal Degeneration: Using genetically-modified tadpoles, I have replicated human retinal degenerative diseases caused by mutations in prominin-1 (prom1) and photoreceptor cadherin (cdhr1). I have determined that without these genes, outer segment discs are overgrowth and the outer segments are not assembled correctly. I am now investigating how defective outer segment assembly leads to photoreceptor death in these animal models. In the prom1-null animal model, it appears that retinal degeneration is not caused by defects in outer segment morphogenesis, but instead by toxic secondary effects such as death of the RPE cells. This is an exciting finding, as it opens up entirely new avenues of investigation for therapies for patients with retinal degeneration caused by prom1-null mutations. We may not have to repair the photoreceptors, as long as we can prevent the secondary toxic effects from occurring. Prom1 has been reported to interact with actin and cholesterol and both of these molecules are important in the maintenance of lipid membrane structure. 

Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Adult prom1-null animals develop deposits of cellular debris in the outer segment layer that resemble reticular pseudodrusen (RPD). RPD may be a risk factor for the development of severe AMD, but little is known about them due to the lack of animal models and insufficient clinical imaging technology. Visible light OCT and adaptive optics are emerging clinical imaging technologies that can resolve retinal structure and vasculature at much greater resolution. I intend to use these technologies in humans and the prom1-null animal model of RPD development, to search for subtle biomarkers of AMD risk and progression that would have been undetectable by past clinical imaging modalities. I am also interested in using Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI) to determine the composition of these RPD-like deposits. The results from this research project should further knowledge of RPD development, establish RPD as a risk factor for severe AMD progression, and provide visual health practitioners with plausible and identifiable biomarkers of AMD risk and progression that can be detected during routine eye examinations.

Myopia: I investigated off-target binding of high-dose atropine in the chick animal model and cell-culture assays. I showed that high-dose atropine can bind non-specifically to alpha2A-adrenoceptors and that the binding of other muscarinic receptor (mAChR) antagonists to alpha2A-adrenoceptors correlated better with their ability to inhibit myopia than their ability to bind to mAChR M4. I also identified two novel therapeutic targets for anti-myopia drugs: nitric oxide and alpha-adrenoceptors. I showed that brimonidine is equally effective at inhibiting myopic eye growth in the chick model as atropine. Future directions are to continue characterizing inner retinal signalling pathways using pharmacology and integrating genetic modification using CRISPR-Cas9 or transgenesis as an additional way to investigate targets of emmetropization and regulation of eye growth.

2022- Assistant Professor

   University of Alberta 

   Dept. Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

2017-2022      Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow

University of British Columbia

Dept. Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine

Supervisor: Dr. Orson L. Moritz

2011-2017 Ph.D. Neurosciences

University of Calgary

Dept. Neuroscience, Cumming School of Medicine

Supervisors: Dr. Bill Stell & Dr. Morley Hollenberg

2008-2011   Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc), Honours (Biomedical Research Stream)

  University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine

  Supervisors: Dr. Bill Stell & Dr. Torben-Bech Hansen

Postdoctoral Funding

2021-2023 BrightFocus Foundation Macular Degeneration Postdoctoral Research Award

2019-2022 Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Research Trainee Award

Doctoral Funding

2015-2017 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postgraduate Scholarship 

   Doctoral Program

2013-2015 Dr. D. Grant Gall Graduate Traineeship

2012-2015 Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship

2012 Alberta Graduate Student Scholarship