Robitaille Lab
Investigating developmental retina vascular diseases
Developmental retina vascular diseases (DRVD) are a leading cause of childhood blindness in developed countries and an emerging problem in developing nations.
Molecular and phenotypic associations between familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR), a hereditary DRVD, and the more common non-hereditary retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) strongly suggest that elucidating the mechanisms that guide retina vascular development can guide the development of effective therapies for this group of conditions.
Using a model that starts with patients and ends with patients, our multi-disciplinary team of researchers aims to:
- identify the genes that cause FEVR and other related conditions
- study the role of the proteins encoded by these genes
- use genetic models to find new treatments that will prevent childhood blindness