Meg DeAngelis, Ph.D. Joins the John A. Moran Eye Center Research Team
The Moran Eye Center is pleased to welcome Meg DeAngelis, Ph.D., as the newest member of its research team. Dr. DeAngelis is currently an Associate Professor at John A Moran Institute, University of Utah School of Medicine. Previously she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Dr. DeAngelis focused her career on vision research in 1999 when she received a post-doctoral fellowship training grant on macular degeneration as part of the Molecular Basis of Eye Disease program at Harvard Medical School. Working in collaboration with retina specialists Drs. Ivana Kim and Joan Miller she recruited and developed a large patient population of families to study the genetic and epidemiologic underpinnings of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). As a result Dr. DeAngelis is a Principal Investigator of a competitive renewal from the National Eye Institute to study the molecular genetics of AMD.
Dr. DeAngelis has received awards for her work in this field including the Lincy Award, Milton Award, Massachusetts Lion's Award and the Thome Foundation Memorial Award.
In addition to studying genetic susceptibility to AMD, her group, working in collaboration with Dr. Hageman, who joined the Moran Eye Center in 2009, is utilizing a systems biology based approach to pinpoint the cause for disease by elucidating key regulatory components in pathways or sets of genes which are implicated in AMD. Their aim is to develop appropriate preventive and therapeutic targets to cure this devastating form of blindness.
Dr. DeAngelis' group has identified a novel anti-angiogenic AMD associated gene known as RORA that is protective against the development of neovascular AMD in three diverse patient populations. RORA was shown by their groups to interact with other known AMD genetic risk factors thus furthering the development of a unifying hypothesis underlying AMD pathophysiology.
The success of this work is the result of building strong collaborations between scientists and clinicians both from outside and within the Moran community.