Catherine Oldenburg, ScD, MPH

Assistant Professor

 

Infectious Disease and Strategies for Trachoma Elimination

Dr. Oldenburg, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology & Biostatistics, is an infectious disease epidemiologist who uses randomized controlled trial designs to evaluate antibiotic-based interventions to prevent childhood morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Her expertise includes infectious disease epidemiology, causal inference, and global health. Current projects include evaluation of core-group based targeting strategies for trachoma elimination in Ethiopia and administration of azithromycin to young infants and neonates for the prevention of child mortality in Burkina Faso. Dr. Oldenburg serves as a mentor on the Resident Research Committee in the Department of Ophthalmology (approximately ten resident projects per year). She also serves as a research mentor for epidemiology graduate students, medical students, and undergraduate students interested in clinical research and public health. Dr. Oldenburg may be identified as Mentor for those Scholars interested in RCT design, infectious disease epidemiology, and global health.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/cate.oldenburg


 

Research Areas:

Cornea, Infectious Diseases, Trachoma
 
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Jeremy Keenan, MD, MPH

Professor

 

Reducing the Global Burden of Blindness

Dr. Keenan, H. Bruce Ostler Professor of Ophthalmology and the Director of International Programs at the Proctor Foundation, is an epidemiologist and ophthalmologist with clinical specialties of cornea and uveitis. His research focuses on strategies to reduce the global burden of blindness, with an emphasis on developing countries. Dr. Keenan is currently the PI of two UG1 grants from the NEI: SWIFT (Sanitation, Water, and Instruction in Face-washing for Trachoma), a cluster-randomized trial that seeks to determine whether improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene are effective for infectious trachoma in Africa, and VIEW II (Village-integrated Eye Worker Trial II), a cluster-randomized trial that seeks to determine the effectiveness of community-based screening for glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration in Nepal. Dr. Keenan is also a co-investigator on several trials funded by the Gates Foundation to determine the effectiveness of mass azithromycin distributions for childhood mortality. In addition, he has strong ties to Aravind Eye Hospital in South India, where he is conducting a pilot trial comparing different treatments for acanthamoeba keratitis, and with Chiang Mai University in Thailand, where he has performed diagnostic accuracy studies for cytomegalovirus retinitis, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/jeremy.keenan


 

Research Areas:

Cornea, Infectious Diseases, Trachoma
 
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Nisha Acharya, M.D., M.S.

Professor

 

Ocular Inflammatory Diseases and Uveitis

Dr. Acharya is the Elizabeth C. Proctor Distinguished Professor at the F.I. Proctor Foundation and Departments of Ophthalmology, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and the Director of the Uveitis and Ocular Inflammatory Disease Service. Dr. Acharya is a clinician-scientist with fellowship training in cornea and uveitis, with a clinical focus of ocular inflammatory diseases and uveitis. Her research focuses on clinical trials and epidemiological studies in ocular inflammation. She was co-PI of the U10 Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trial and PI of the NEI-funded U10 grant First-line Antimetabolites for Steroid-Sparing Treatment (FAST) Uveitis Trial, a multicenter trial that compared methotrexate to mycophenolate for the treatment of non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis. She is the PI of the U10 ADJUST (Adalimumab in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-associated Uveitis Stopping Trial). She is also protocol co-chair of a macular edema trial through the Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment Trial group. Dr Acharya’s research group is experienced in working with large electronic medical record datasets. She is the PI of an R01 using large datasets to study the impact of the herpes zoster vaccination on herpes zoster ophthalmicus.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/nisha.acharya


 

Research Areas:

Inflammatory Eye Disease, Uveitis, Infectious Diseases
 
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Stephen D. McLeod, MD

Professor

 

McLeod Research

 

Dr. McLeod’s research interests include the study of improved strategies for diagnosis and management of eye infections both in the U.S. and in the developing world, as well as the development of advanced cataract and refractive surgery technology.

 

 

To Learn More:

https://researcherprofiles.org/profile/196003

 

Research Areas:

Cataract, Cornea

Learn more about UCSF Ophthalmology faculty research.

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Bruce R. Conklin, MD

Professor

 

Therapeutic Approaches to Genetic Disease

Dr. Conklin uses induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, both from patients and engineered to have particular mutations to model human disease. His lab is developing new genome engineering methods in human iPS cells to identify therapeutic targets in cardiac, motor neuron and retinal diseases. Trainees will utilize CRISRP technology for therapeutic genome editing, then test the effect of genome editing in diseases modeled in iPS cells. The combination of human iPS cells and genome editing provide unprecedented opportunities to explore new areas of biology and discover new therapies for disease. Dr. Conklin has mentored many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the lab. He has on-going collaborations with Dr. Shen that has led to a publication in Nat Genetics 2019 and Dr. Lakkaraju studying water transport across the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE), as a functional measure of gene correction in Best’s disease. Scholars interested in the use of state-of-the-art therapeutic genome editing strategies and stem cell biology will find opportunities in Dr. Conklin’s lab.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/bruce.conklin
https://labs.gladstone.org/conklin/
https://ucsfhealthcardiology.ucsf.edu/people/bruce-conklin
 

Research Areas:

Gene Research, Gene Therapy, Stem Cell Research
 
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Xin Duan, PhD

Associate Professor

 

The molecular and cellular basis of neural circuit wiring and rewiring

The Duan lab’s goal is to reconstruct neural circuits and restore normal function in the setting of neuronal injury. Trainees will develop skills in imaging using confocal microscopy, adeno-associated virus (AAV) production, CRISPR mutagenesis, performing mouse ocular injections, isolating of retinal neurons for RNASeq, and measuring the functional properties of retinal ganglion cells through patch clamp retinal electrophysiology. He has mentored 4 postdoctoral fellows, 3 graduate students, 1 medical student, 10 summer students and undergraduate students and 2 visiting international scholars. Drs Duan and Dunn were awarded the 2017-18 Weill Trailblazer award to collaborate on how the retina “talks” to the brain. Scholars interested in circuit assembly and neuronal repair in the central nervous system will find opportunities in the Duan lab.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/xin.duan

 

Research Areas:

Retina or Retinal Diseases, Visual System Development, Glaucoma
 
 
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Felice Dunn, PhD

Associate Professor

 

Mechanisms of the anatomical and functional changes to the retina following photoreceptor loss

The Dunn lab aims to advance understanding of retinal synaptogenesis and signal pathway regulation that could enable future therapies directed against loss of primary sensory neurons. Our lab currently has projects directed to accomplish the following goals:

1. To determine how specific connections are established at the visual system’s first synapse
2. To determine how rod vs. cone signals are independently regulated within the retinal circuit.
3. Identify the extent and sites of compensation within the retinal circuitry following partial photoreceptor loss.
4. Determine the contributions of partial stimulation, adaptation, and homeostatic plasticity to retinal responses following partial photoreceptor loss.
5. To determine the degree of input loss that induces constructive vs. destructive structural and functional changes within the retinal circuit.

 

To Learn More:

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/felice.dunn
https://dunnlab.ucsf.edu/

 

Research Areas:

Retina or Retinal Diseases, Visual System Development
 
 
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