Thaddeus Dryja

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Thaddeus Dryja
Alma mater
Known forDiscovery of the Rb tumor suppressor gene
Scientific career
Institutions

Thaddeus P. Dryja is an American ophthalmologist and geneticist known for his role in the 1986 discovery of the Rb tumor suppressor gene. [1] He was the David G. Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard University and was the Global Head of Ophthalmology Research at Novartis. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1996. [2]

Contents

Education

Dryja graduated from Yale College in 1972 with a B.A. in chemistry and from Yale University Medical School in 1976. He interned at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut from 1976 to 1977. He was a research fellow in experimental eye pathology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School from 1977 to 1978. He completed an ophthalmology residency at Harvard Medical School in 1981. From 1981 to 1983 he was a research fellow in genetics and ophthalmology at the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. [3]

Career

In 1983 Dryja joined the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, becoming a full professor in 1992. In 1992 he also became director of the David G. Cogan Pathology Laboratory at the Massachesetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. In 1993 he became the David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

In 1996 Dryja was elected to the American National Academy of Sciences. [4] The citation states that "Dryja is a pioneer in the molecular genetics of human eye disease. He has made seminal discoveries relating to the pathogenesis of retinoblastoma and retinitis pigmentosa and identified the mutant genes causing these conditions". [5] His inaugural article was "Gene-based approach to human gene-phenotype correlations". [6]

In 2006 Dryja became the head of Translational Medicine in Ophthalmology at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), the Novartis research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From 2009 to 2017 he was the global head of ophthalmology research, [4] supervising a research group of over 200. [7] In 2017 he returned to Harvard Medical School as a clinical professor and eye pathologist. [4]

Selected papers

Related Research Articles

Rhodopsin

Rhodopsin is a light-sensitive receptor protein involved in visual phototransduction. It is named after ancient Greek ῥόδον for rose, due to its pinkish color, and ὄψις for sight. Rhodopsin is a biological pigment found in the rods of the retina and is a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). It belongs to opsins. Rhodopsin is extremely sensitive to light, and thus enables vision in low-light conditions. When rhodopsin is exposed to light, it immediately photobleaches. In humans, it is regenerated fully in about 30 minutes, after which rods are more sensitive.

Retinitis pigmentosa Gradual retinal degeneration leading to progressive sight loss

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreased peripheral vision. As peripheral vision worsens, people may experience "tunnel vision". Complete blindness is uncommon. Onset of symptoms is generally gradual and often in childhood.

Photoreceptor cell-specific nuclear receptor

The photoreceptor cell-specific nuclear receptor (PNR), also known as NR2E3, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NR2E3 gene. PNR is a member of the nuclear receptor super family of intracellular transcription factors.

Retinal G protein coupled receptor

RPE-retinal G protein-coupled receptor also known as RGR-opsin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RGR gene.

PRPF31

PRP31 pre-mRNA processing factor 31 homolog , also known as PRPF31, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the PRPF31 gene.

<i>CRX</i> (gene)

Cone-rod homeobox protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CRX gene.

Retinaldehyde-binding protein 1

Retinaldehyde-binding protein 1 (RLBP1) also known as cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (CRALBP) is a 36-kD water-soluble protein that in humans is encoded by the RLBP1 gene.

RP2 (gene)

Protein XRP2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RP2 gene.

<i>NRL</i> (gene) Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Neural retina-specific leucine zipper protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NRL gene.

PDE6G

Retinal rod rhodopsin-sensitive cGMP 3',5'-cyclic phosphodiesterase subunit gamma is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PDE6G gene.

RPGRIP1

X-linked retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator-interacting protein 1 is a protein in the ciliary transition zone that in humans is encoded by the RPGRIP1 gene. RPGRIP1 is a multi-domain protein containing a coiled-coil domain at the N-terminus, two C2 domains and a C-terminal RPGR-interacting domain (RID). Defects in the gene result in the Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) syndrome and in the eye disease glaucoma.

ROM1

Rod outer segment membrane protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ROM1 gene.

Retinal degeneration (rhodopsin mutation)

Retinal degeneration is a retinopathy which consists in the deterioration of the retina caused by the progressive death of its cells. There are several reasons for retinal degeneration, including artery or vein occlusion, diabetic retinopathy, R.L.F./R.O.P., or disease. These may present in many different ways such as impaired vision, night blindness, retinal detachment, light sensitivity, tunnel vision, and loss of peripheral vision to total loss of vision. Of the retinal degenerative diseases retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a very important example.

Locus heterogeneity occurs when mutations at multiple genomic loci are capable of producing the same phenotype, and each individual mutation is sufficient to cause the specific phenotype independently. Locus heterogeneity should not be confused with allelic heterogeneity, in which a single phenotype can be produced by multiple mutations, all of which are at the same locus on a chromosome. Likewise, it should not be confused with phenotypic heterogeneity, in which different phenotypes arise among organisms with identical genotypes and environmental conditions. Locus heterogeneity and allelic heterogeneity are the two components of genetic heterogeneity.

Reza Dana

Reza Dana is the Claes H. Dohlman Professor of Ophthalmology, senior scientist and W. Clement Stone Clinical Research Scholar at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, and director of the Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program.

José-Alain Sahel is a French ophthalmologist and scientist. He is currently the chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, director of the UPMC Eye Center, and the Eye and Ear Foundation Chair of Ophthalmology. Dr. Sahel previously lead the Vision Institute in Paris, a research center associated with the one of the oldest eye hospitals of Europe - Quinze-Vingts National Eye Hospital in Paris, founded in 1260. He is a pioneer in the field of artificial retina and eye regenerative therapies. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

Stephen H. Tsang is an ophthalmologist and geneticist. He is currently an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and an Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Pathology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, New York, in the United States.

Robert MacLaren

Robert E. MacLaren FMedSci FRCOphth FRCS FACS VR is a British ophthalmologist who has led pioneering work in the treatment of blindness caused by diseases of the retina. He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and Honorary Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Oxford Eye Hospital and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. He is also an Honorary Consultant Vitreo-retinal Surgeon at the Moorfields Eye Hospital. MacLaren is an NIHR Senior Investigator, or lead researcher, for the speciality of Ophthalmology. In addition, he is a member of the research committee of Euretina: the European Society of Retina specialists, Fellow of Merton College, in Oxford and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Daniel M. Albert

Daniel M. Albert is an American ophthalmologist, ocular cancer researcher, medical historian, and collector of rare books and ocular equipment. As of 2018, he is Professor of Ophthalmology at the Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University.

Paul A. Sieving

Paul A. Sieving is a former director of the National Eye Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Prior to joining the NIH in 2001, he served on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School as the Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics. He also was the founding director of the Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration in the university's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. 

References

  1. Siddhartha Mukherjee (2011). The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Simon and Schuster. pp. 376–380. ISBN   978-1-4391-7091-5.
  2. Thomas Durso (May 1996). "National Academy of Sciences' Class of 1996 Sets New Record". The Scientist.
  3. "Biographical Sketch – Thaddeus P. Dryja" (PDF). Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Thaddeus P. Dryja". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  5. "Ophthalmology – Thaddeus P. Dryja". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  6. Thaddeus P. Dryja (1997). "Gene-based approach to human gene-phenotype correlations". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94 (22): 12117–12121. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.22.12117. PMC   23721 . PMID   9342372.
  7. George B. Bartley (2012). "Interview with Thaddeus P. Dryja, MD". Archives of Ophthalmology. 130 (1): 111–2. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.382. PMID   22232480.