Thomas Wubben, MD, PhD

• Inflammation
• Macular Degeneration and Retinal Dystrophies

Research Summary

Dr. Wubben’s research focuses on the intersection of retinal metabolism and vitreoretinal disease. Understanding the metabolic pathways that support retinal cell function and survival and how these pathways are rewired in certain disease states is expected to provide a framework for developing novel therapeutic paradigms to prevent vision loss in those afflicted with retinal disease.

The laboratory utilizes advanced techniques in molecular biology and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to unravel the metabolic pathways crucial to the function and survival of photoreceptors and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in multiple experimental systems. These systems include mouse models of retinal dystrophies and retinal detachment, rabbit models of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), and RPE cell culture models of macular degeneration and PVR. The insight obtained from such studies will be employed to design metabolism-based therapies. Dr. Wubben collaborates with world-renowned vision scientists as well as experts in other disciplines to expand research efforts and our comprehensive understanding of cellular metabolism.

Dr. Wubben’s work has been funded by a variety of internal and external grants and has resulted in numerous impactful publications. For more information, please contact Dr. Wubben.