People / Graduate Students

Katherine Malanson

My work investigates the molecular mechanisms of Retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a genetically heterogeneous group of diseases, which lead to progressive blindness due to degeneration of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Approximately 1 in 4000 individuals is affected. RP leads to night blindness in the second to third decade of life followed by debilitating blindness in the sixth or seventh decade of life. Currently there is no effective treatment to cure or arrest the disease. Research in our lab focuses on the molecular mechanisms of RP, including the involvement of mutant rhodopsin, aberrant transducin signaling, and calcium overload.