REH lab

Lew Kaplan
Some vertebrate species like the frog or the newt show remarkable regenerative capacity. In fact, they can regenerate the complete retina after its removal. This process is partially mediated by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) that can enter a stem-cell like state. My goal is to make human RPE more newt-like and stimulate it to generate cone-photoreceptors.

Josh Hahn

I am a bioinformatician interested in retinal development, regeneration, and evolution. My current projects aim to understand how epigenetic mechanisms govern cell fate specification, and how we can leverage these mechanisms to direct Müller glia reprogramming towards specific retinal ganglion cell fates. I am currently funded by a T32 Vision Training Grant.

Evelyn Abraham

My research aims to validate reprogramming of human Müller glia as a treatment for retinal degenerative diseases. I use patient-derived retinal organoids to model late-stage retinal disease and cell loss in vitro, and regenerate retinal neurons to assess recovery, gene expression, and functional circuit integration. I am funded by the University of Washington Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.

Bindia Chawla

Kiara Eldred
I am interested in understanding how retinal neurons choose their fate during differentiation, and how this program is disrupted during tumorigenesis. I developed a method called CUT&TIME to track the history of open chromatin in a developing progenitor cell, which will allow for mapping the trajectories of retinal neurons during differentiation and regeneration. I am also implementing multimodal single-cell profiling to simultaneously visualize active and repressive chromatin landscapes during retinal development. I am funded by the HHMI Hanna Gray Fellows program.

Juliette Wohlschlegel
I am a passionate developmental biologist, captivated by the genetic mechanisms that determine cell fate and the processes involved in cellular regeneration. My research focuses on developing a strategy to regenerate neurons from human Müller glia, with the hope that this work will contribute to the advancement of intrinsic regenerative medicine in humans. I am funded by the BrightFocus Fondation.

Marina Pavlou

My focus is to develop a regenerative gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases. To achieve this I employ viral vector strategies that stimulate neurogenesis in the adult mammalian retina in live animal models. I am also interested in the functional integration of regenerated neurons in the adult mammalian retina and whether neurogenesis leads to tangible vision restoration. I am funded by the Weill Neurohub foundation and the Washington Research Foundation.

Cat Ray

Lab Manager!

Brennan Mahoney

MD-PhD Student

Ashlyn Morgan

Lab Tech

Lydia Lee

Mahi Agarwal