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New Professorship Boosts Genetic Studies
of Eye Diseases
Families with inherited eye diseases will benefit from the appointment of Stephen Daiger, Ph.D., to the new Thomas Stull Matney, Ph.D., Endowed Professorship in Environmental and Genetic Sciences.
Daiger is professor in the Human Genetics Center at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston and president elect of the faculty of the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston (GSBS). The professorship will “allow me to support the research of our students who are focused on understanding the causes and – eventually – the treatments of inherited eye diseases,” he said.
Stephen Daiger, Ph.D., and graduate student Robyn
Seaman are looking for genetic causes of eye diseases.
Photo by Michele Mocco
The main research goal of Daiger’s laboratory, and the focus of the students, staff and faculty who work with him, is to determine the causes of a set of inherited diseases called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a progressive degeneration of the retina – the “film” at the back of the eye – which often begins as night blindness in children and progresses to total blindness in adults. Roughly 100,000 Americans are affected by RP.
Daiger’s active participation in both the School of Public Health and GSBS played a role in his selection for the Matney professorship. Matney, a retired distinguished professor of biomedical sciences at the School of Public Health and emeritus member of the GSBS faculty, established the professorship in 2004.
A former associate dean of the graduate school, Matney was instrumental in getting the biomedical sciences Ph.D. program underway during the school’s formative years. He also served as chair of faculty affairs at the School of Public Health for four years, longer than any other chair.
His experience at both schools, Matney said, enabled him to see how valuable both graduate programs in biomedical sciences are, and as a result, he wanted to reward faculty who are active members of both schools.
“I also wanted to set an example for other faculty, that even someone like me could find the resources to do this for the future of the schools and the faculty,” Matney said.
Thomas Stull Matney, Ph.D.
Expressing his appreciation to Matney for the generous gift that established the professorship, Daiger said, “It is hard to express how pleased and honored I am. You have always been the exemplar to me of excellence in teaching, research and service. You are also among the most thoughtful and decent people I have known. And on top of all this you have a great sense of humor! Who wouldn’t be incredibly proud to have their name associated with yours?”
Daiger, who joined the faculty in 1981, also directs the Laboratory for Molecular Diagnosis of Inherited Eye Diseases, a joint project of the Human Genetics Center and the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the UT Medical School at Houston. He holds adjunct appointments in ophthalmology at the UT Medical School and in pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
His research team focuses on a specific form of RP, autosomal dominant RP, which accounts for at least 25 percent of all RP cases. “Autosomal dominant RP is passed from generation to generation, affects roughly half the children of an affected parent, and is equally common among boys and girls,” he said.
“We use a number of methods, for example, family studies, DNA sequencing and gene cloning, to find the underlying gene and mutation causing RP in affected individuals and families,” he said. “In recent years we have worked with over 500 families with specific forms of RP, and found disease-causing mutations in roughly 50 percent.”
Daiger’s research team discovered two of the genes now known to cause autosomal dominant RP: the RP1 gene and the RP10 gene (also known as IMPDH1). In follow-up studies directed at these genes, the researchers are:
- looking at factors that may modify the severity of disease caused by mutations in these genes,
- collaborating on studies of the genes and proteins involved, and
- working with other research groups to translate these findings into treatments.
“The long-term goal of our research is to use this information to help patients and families with these disorders, and to contribute to efforts to find treatments and cures,” he said.
The RP research is supported by grants from the National Eye Institute, the Hermann Eye Fund and the Foundation Fighting Blindness. A former president of the Texas Genetics Society, Daiger is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and chair of the Genetics Committee of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.