Chao Lab

There are currently no effective treatments to prevent vision loss in most patients with inherited retinal degeneration (IRDs) or dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 

The Chao Lab is working to understand the mechanisms of retinal degenerative diseases and identify potential therapeutic targets for treatment. 

In pursuit of this goal, the Chao lab and their collaborators have taken on three synergistic approaches: (1) identify mechanisms of disease that contribute to the initiation and progression of macular degenerative diseases; (2) utilize patient-derived stem cells to develop more sophisticated and physiologically relevant models of retinal diseases; and (3) conduct imaging and interventional clinical trials of retinal degeneration patients to determine the effectiveness of novel therapeutics.