Appointments and Honors
Retina Research Foundation Rebecca Meyer Brown Professor, McPherson Eye Research Institute
Research Interests
- Disease of the retina
- Determine the molecular and activity-dependent mechanisms that regulate synaptic connectivity between retinal neurons during development and circuit assembly
- Determine the structural and functional impact of retinal disease on synaptic connectivity between outer and inner retinal neurons
- Correlate synaptic plasticity mechanisms during retinal development and during disease conditions
- Determine genetic and/or pharmacological strategies that can recover synaptic organization and function in retinal disease conditions
Research Highlights
One recent international collaborative project from the Hoon Lab was together with Drs. Ann Marie Craig and Tabrez Siddiqui at the University of British Columbia and University of Manitoba, respectively. This project elucidated a novel role for a synapse organizing protein, Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal proteins (LRRTM4), in the function of the sensory retinal circuit critical for dim-light vision. LRRTM4 was thought to only be essential for the function of excitatory synapses, but this project found that LRRTM4 also organizes inhibitory synapses. The work could have far-reaching implications since it is known that mutations in LRRTM4 are associated with visual defects.
LRRTM4: a novel regulator of presynaptic inhibition and ribbon synapse arrangements of retinal bipolar cells
Education
Postgraduate Training 2010-2015, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
PhD 2010, Neuroscience, International Max Planck Research School, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
BSc 2005, Human Physiology, Presidency College, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India