About the Owen Lab
The Owen lab is an NEI-funded center working to understand the genetic and molecular causes for blinding eye disease, including retinopathy of prematurity, pediatric strabismus and amblyopia, and age-related macular degeneration.
Understanding Disease Through a Systems-Biology Approach
The over-reaching goal of Dr. Leah Owen’s work is the identification of new risk factors and molecular mediators important for disease development and progression. She and her team identify these through a systems-biology analysis of human tissues. A systems-biology approach is a powerful tool that allows for a greater understanding of human diseases through combined analysis of clinical, genetic, and molecular information to better understand the complex causes of disease.
Discoveries made using this model identify key mechanisms that lead to development of disease and prevent our ability to cure. These findings can be more directly translated into preventative or curative therapeutics since discovered by studying human disease. Dr. Owen and her team work with collaborators nationally and internationally using this innovative approach to improve vision outcomes for people with blinding conditions.