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How Does Baehr Lab Research Help Patients?

Long Term Goal:

Finding a Cure for Human Retinal Degeneration

The long-range goal of Dr. Baehr’s research is to design strategies to ameliorate or cure human retinal degenerations: diseases for which no cures exist. These strategies are based on the discovery of many genes and their related proteins that malfunction in inherited retinal diseases. The complexities of these pathways means that designing curative gene therapies is a complex process requiring profound and accurate knowledge of the molecules involved and their many interactions.

Dr. Baehr arguably heads the world’s premier molecular genetics laboratory: the Moran Eye Center’s lead team in discovering the mechanisms underlying incurable retinal diseases.

The transduction of light to chemical signals in the retinal photoreceptor cells.
The transduction of light to chemical signals in the retinal photoreceptor cells.

In the News

University of Utah researcher Wolfgang Baehr: 2014 ARVO Proctor Medal Award Winner