2024 Kambara Symposium

John H. Fingert, MD, PhD is the Hadley-Carver Chair in Glaucoma, Professor and Director of the Glaucoma Service for the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. He directs the glaucoma genetics lab at the University of Iowa’s Institute for Vision Research and his principal research focus is investigating the genetic basis of glaucoma. Dr. Fingert has made key discoveries including the identification of the first glaucoma-causing gene, myocilin (MYOC), and one of the few known genes for normal tension glaucoma (TBK1). He has also examined the influence of glaucoma risk factor genes on disease with investigations of the participants in the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS). Dr. Fingert has authored over 175 peer-reviewed articles and 10 book chapters. He has also been elected to the Glaucoma Research Society, the American Ophthalmological Society, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He currently serves on the scientific advisory boards of The Glaucoma Foundation and Research to Prevent Blindness and is on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Glaucoma, Journal of Glaucoma, and Ophthalmic Genetics.

Gregory Schwartz, PhD is the Derrick T. Vail Professor of Ophthalmology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. He directs the Schwartz Lab, which focuses on the circuit mechanisms underlying sensory computation. His work uses the mouse retina as a model system because it allows us to stimulate the circuit precisely with its natural input, patterns of light, and record its natural output, the spike trains of retinal ganglion cells. He harnesses the power of genetic manipulations and detailed information about cell types to uncover new circuits and discover their role in visual processing. His methods include electrophysiology, computational modeling, and circuit tracing using a variety of imaging techniques. Dr. Schwartz completed his BA, BS and MS degrees at Brandeis University and a PhD and Princeton University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience at Princeton University and a second postdoctoral fellowship in Physiology at the University of Washington.

Deepak Shukla, PhD is the Marion H. Schenk Esq. Professor in Ophthalmology for Research of the Aging Eye and Vice Chair for Research at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Ocular Virology Laboratory. Dr. Shukla studies the viral and immunological basis of ocular diseases, herpes simplex virus (HSV) pathogenesis, and the development of new anti-viral agents and vaccines. His research program is supported by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., and a number of other foundation grants.  Dr. Shukla has an exceptional commitment to graduate and postgraduate education and serves on important educational committees in the College of Medicine. His laboratory has trained over 25 students and pre- and postdoctoral fellows, of whom three are now independent investigators with faculty appointments.  He reviews grants for the NIH, the American Cancer Society, and Midwest Eye Banks. He lends his expertise as a member of the editorial boards for two biomedical journals and serves regularly as an ad hoc and invited reviewer. He earned his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbiology and Immunology at Northwestern University.

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