Stewart Thompson BSc MSc PhD

Biography:

PhD in Physiology with Russell Foster at Imperial College in London Division of Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine. Photoreceptor basis of circadian responses to light.

Post-doctoral scholar with Nicholas Mrosovsky PhD FRSC at the University of Toronto Department of Zoology (RIP). Studies of light-regulated behavior in eye disease.

2006 to 2010 – Howard Hughes post-doctoral research specialist with Edwin M. Stone MD PhD at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Studies of light-regulated behavior in eye disease.

Research overview:
Detection of light in the eye serves two distinct functions: image-forming-vision providing spatial awareness, and 'irradiance responses' - where detecting gross changes in light regulates adaptive responses in physiology and behavior. Because of this dual role, eye disease disrupts vision but also profoundly affects health and performance. Having characterized the relationship between ocular function and physiological phenotype in a number of eye disease mouse models, his research is now advancing into studies of disease mechanism and toward studies in patients. An integrative approach primarily in genetic mouse models will understand: (1) the retinal cellular basis of irradiance detection for specific responses to light, (2) which eye diseases affect irradiance coding and their mechanism, and (3) how altered irradiance detection contributes to deficits in health and performance. The intention of this approach is to minimize adverse consequences of eye disease for patients, and by elucidating disease mechanism to aid efforts to restore eye function.

A link to my own web site: http://www.photosensorybiology.org

Personnel:
Austin Barclay BA BS