Short Biography:

Ismail Zaitoun received his BS degree from the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid, Jordan, and a MS degree from the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. In 2008, he received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Zaitoun’ s graduate studies focused on Genomic Imprinting. He discovered that imprinted genes show dosage compensation expression pattern similar to that shown by X-linked genes.

As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Epstein in the Department of Neuroscience (UW-Madison), he investigated the different aspects of neural crest cell defects in a mouse model of Hirschsprung’s disease. He identified a dysfunction in neurovascular communication as key mediator of this disease.

In the laboratory of Dr. Sheibani in the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Zaitoun has continued his efforts in delineating the interactions between the neurons and vascular cells. He has been investigating the effect of hypoxia and hyperoxia on the integrity of the neurovascular retina.

He recently demonstrated the damaging effects of hypoxia-ischemia exposure on the integrity of the retinal neurovasculature and vision impairment using a preclinical model of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in a neonatal mouse. His studies have identified a significant association between brain damage and compromised retinal neurovasculature. His work is leading to a paradigm shift in how hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy affects retinal neurovasculature and vision.