Research Interests: Sensory Neurobiology, Photoreceptor physiology, Visual cycle and dark adaptation, Photoreceptor degeneration, Gene-independent therapy for visual disorders

We are a sensory neurobiology lab interested in the function of mammalian rod and cone photoreceptors. Studies target basic biological questions such as cone and rod phototransduction, calcium and the mechanisms of light adaptation, and the visual cycle and dark adaptation. Additional studies focus on disease-oriented questions such as the mechanisms of retinal degeneration in mouse models of visual disorders, and the development of therapeutic tools for preventing photoreceptor death. Current projects investigate the signaling by chromophore-free opsin, chromophore supply to cones, the etiology of G90D and G90V rhodopsin mutations, and calcium regulation in rod bipolar cells.