What’s been happening:

I am a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. I am also the Kenna Director of the Center for Zebrafish Research. My research deals with the regeneration of neurons from a population of adult stem cells that reside in the zebrafish retina, called the Muller glia. The Muller glia possess the ability to regenerate any neuronal cell type that is lost in the zebrafish retina, and restore functional vision to blind fish. Because Muller glia are also present in the human retina, we hope to understand neuronal regeneration in zebrafish to develop methods to induce the endogenous Muller glial cells in the human retina to regenerate lost neurons. This not only holds promise as a therapy for different forms of blindness, such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, but may also be provide a way to treat other neurodegeneration diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease. I also authored a textbook "Introduction to Genetic Principles" for McGraw-Hill, which first published in January, 2008.