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Professors
Barrett G. Haik, MD, FACS
(Chair)
Edward Chaum, MD, PhD
Richard D. Drewry, Jr., MD, FACS*
Robert W. Enzenauer, MD, MPH
James. C. Fleming, MD, FACS
Eldon E. Geisert, Jr., PhD
Ralph S. Hamilton, MD
Roger L. Hiatt, Sr., MD*
Dianna A. Johnson, PhD
Natalie Kerr, MD, FACS
Zeynel A. Karcioglu, MD
Malak Kotb, PhD
Peter A. Netland, MD, PhD
R. Christopher Walton, MD, MHA
Associate Professors
Elizabeth A. Fitzgerald, PhD
Alessandro Iannaccone, MD, MS
Monica M. Jablonski, PhD
William R. Morris, MD
Eniko Pivnick, MD
Matthew W. Wilson, MD
Assistant Professors
Michael A. Dyer, PhD
Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, MD
James C. Hart, MD, MPH
Mary Ellen Hoehn, MD
Syed Mazher Husain, PhD
Elliott M. Kanner, MD, PhD
Rita Kansal, PhD
Thomas O'Donnell, MD
Andreea E. Partal, MD
Tonia S. Rex, PhD
Sarwat Salim, MD, FACS
Jena J. Steinle, PhD
Instructors
John W. Boyle, IV, MD
Lidia Gardner, PhD
Carrie L. Morris, MD
Mary E. Smith, MPH, RDMS
* Professor Emeritus
Professors
Steven Charles, MD
Jerre M. Freeman, MD
Thomas C. Gettelfinger, MD
Ivan Marais, MD
Spencer Thornton, MD
Audrey W. Tuberville, MD
Ralph Wesley, MD
Thomas O. Wood, MD
Associate Professors
Andrew Lawton, MD
Howard L. Beale, MD
Brian S. Biesman, MD
Ernesto Calvo, MD
Fletcher Goode, MD
Richard E. Sievers, MD
Ming Wang, MD
Assistant Professors
Kathryn W. Byrd, MD
Thomas A. Currey, MD
Roger L. Deshaies, MD
James Freeman, MD
Lawrence W. Gordon, MD
Henry T. Grizzard, MD
Ralph F. Hamilton, MD
J. Charles Henry, MD
Faramarz (Fred) Hidaji, MD
Sunny Khamapirad, MD
Sidney Kriger, MD
Melvin Litch, MD
Gary Passons, MD
William Bradford Priester, MD
Alan R. Schaeffer, MD
Instructors
Darren J. Bell, MD
Jorge I. Calzada, MD
John Freeman, MD
Elliott Kanner, MD
Associate Professors
Erno Lindner, PhD
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Tonia S.
Rex, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology
The Hamilton Eye Institute
930 Madison Avenue, Room 750
Memphis, TN 38163
(901) 448-2094
trex@utmem.edu
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Education
- Oct. 1995 to Jun. 2001: Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and
Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, CA
- Sep. 1991 to May 1995: Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, minor in
Chemistry, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Research Interests
- Study of the ability of erythropoietin to protection the retina from
induced and inherited retinal degenerations, and development of gene
therapy.
- Study of retinal development and differentiation through gene
delivery. Specifically, the role of NR2E3 will be studied and gene
therapy developed for enhanced S-cone syndrome, a retinal degeneration
due to a lack of NR2E3.
- Development of a method to determine the therapeutic dose curves for
various genes of interest for the development of safe and effective
retinal gene therapy.
Previous Research
- Development of novel animal models for Stargardt's disease, a
juvenile form of macular degeneration, and subsequent gene therapy.
- Analysis of changes in synaptic connectivity in the Rpe65-/- mouse
retina, a model for Lebers congenital amaurosis, and recovery by
treatment with lentivirus.Rpe65.
- Gene therapy for retinal degenerations including light damage, rds,
and Stargardt's disease, a juvenile form of macular
degeneration.
- Quantifying EGFP levels in individual cells of transgenic and
virally transduced animal retinas to study EGFP toxicity and gene
expression.
- Characterization of the amount and localization of various
photoreceptor cell proteins and quantified the number of cones
containing their opsin mRNA after retinal detachment and reattachment.
In addition, the energy metabolism status of the detached retina was
assessed.
- Characterization of the energy metabolic pathways of the rat retina.
This work resulted in the demonstration of a glucose transporter in
the rat retina.
- Characterization of the reduction-oxidation (redox) couple between
glutathione and ascorbic acid using a series of spectrophotometric,
biochemical assays.
Awards
- 2006 $50,000 Young Investigator Award Hope for Vision
- 2006 XIIth International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration Travel
Award
- 2000 Graduate Division Travel Award UCSB
- 1999 Alumni Research Award UCSB
- 1999 Neuroscience Excellence in Research Award UCSB
- 1997 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Travel
Award
- 1994-1995 Michigan Merit Scholar
- 1991-1994 Student Life Scholarship Oakland University
Professional Affiliations
- 2004-present: American Society for Gene Therapy
- 1997-present: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Invited Seminars
- 3/2/2007 Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation, Cleveland, OH
- 1/5/2007 Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
Cleveland, OH
- 9/25/2006 University of Iowa, Department of Internal Medicine, Gene
Therapy Program, Iowa City, IA
- 9/25/2006 University of Iowa, Ophthalmology Department, Iowa City,
IA
- 9/15/2006 Inserm at Hospital Saint-Antoine, Department of Cellular
and Molecular Physiopathology of the Retina
- 9/11/2006 University of Genova, Neuroscience Department, Genova,
Italy
- 9/6/2006 Max Planck Institute, Frankfurt, Germany
- 7/17/2006 University of Tennessee, Hamilton Eye Institute, Memphis,
TN
- 1/9/2002 University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute,
Philadelphia, PA
Recent Publications*
Articles
- Allocca M, Hoyos MG, Doria M, Petrillo M, Gibbs D, Maguire AM, Rex
TS, Sparrow JR, Williams DS, Bennett J, Auricchio A. (submitted) Gene
therapy of Stargardt disease and Usher syndrome 1B with AAV5 vectors
packaging large genomes. Nature Medicine.
- Bennicelli J, Wright JF, Jacobs J, Komaromy A, Hauck B, Zelenaia O,
Mingozzi F, Hui D, Chung, D, Rex TS, Wei Z, Zeiss C, Arruda VR, Pugh
EN Jr, Acland GM, Dell'Osso LF, High KA, Maguire AM, Bennett J.
(submitted) Reversal of visual deficits in animal models of
Leber Congenital Amaurosis within weeks after treatment with a
serotype 2, optimized adeno-associated virus (AAV).
- Shindler KS, Ventura E, Rex TS, Elliott P, and Rostami R. (2007)
SIRT1 activation confers neuroprotection in experimental optic
neuritis. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 48:3602-3609.
- Rex TS, Peet JA, Surace EM, Calvert PD, Nikonov SS, Lyubarsky AL,
Bendo E, T. Hughes T, Pugh, EN Jr. and J. Bennett. (2005) The
distribution, concentration, and toxicity of EGFP in retinal cells
after genomic or somatic (virus-mediated) gene transfer. Mol Vis.
11:1236-1245.
Book Chapters and Reviews
- Rex TS. (in press) Rescue of sight by gene therapy—closer
than it may appear. Ophthalmic Genetics.
- Rex TS. (in press) Virus-mediated gene delivery to neuronal
progenitors. RD 2006 Proceedings Volume.
- Dejneka NS, Rex TS. (in press) Rod Cell Death and Retinal
Degeneration. Apoptosis in the Retina.
- Dejneka NS, Rex TS, Bennett J. (2004) Gene therapy and animal models
for retinal disease. Genetics in Ophthalmology, p 188-198.
Abstracts
- Chung DC, Rex T, Lee V, Tang W, Wei Z, Oh E, Swaroop A, Bennett J.
(2007) Somatic in utero gene delivery to E14 Nrl-/- photoreceptors
induces rod specific protein expression. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.
E-Abstract: 1691.
- Rex TS, Lee V, Vandenberghe LH, Chung D, Wei Z, Wilson JM, Bennett
J. (2007) Evaluation of hybrid adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated
transduction of the fetal retina: impact of single amino acid changes
of the capsid. Molecular Therapy E-Abstract: 854.
- Bennett J, Bennicelli J, Wright F, Arruda VR, Zelenaia O, Hauck B,
Rex TS, Chung D, Wei Z, Narfstrom K, Pugh, EN Jr, Jacobs J, Dell'Osso
L, Zeiss C, Komaromy AM, Acland GM, High KA, Maguire AM. (2007)
Reversal of visual deficits in animal models of Leber Congenital
Amaurosis within weeks after treatment with an optimized
adeno-associated virus (AAV). Molecular Therapy E-Abstract: 745.
- Rex TS, Dejneka NS, Surace EM, Maguire AM, Bennett J. (2006)
Analysis of inner retinal changes in eyes of Rpe65-/- mice treated
with lentivirus-hRPE65. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 850
- Oh EC, Chung D, Rex T, Strettoi E, Khanna H, Khan N, Raven MA, Reese
BE, Bennett J. (2006) Nrl is a master regulator of rod photoreceptor
determination. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 4191
- Rex TS, Peet J, Surace E, Calvert P, Nikonov S, Lyubarsky A, Hughes
T, Pugh Jr EN, Bennett J. (2005) Quantification of EGFP expression in
living cells of the mouse retina and parallel electrophysiological
assessment of cell health. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 3370
* List updated October 2007
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