About Us
Markus H. Kuehn, PhD
Dr. Kuehn is the Principal Investigator of the University of Iowa Glaucoma Cell Biology Laboratory. He obtained a PhD degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from St. Louis University and has been on the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences since 2007. He currently holds the rank of Professor with Tenure. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Iowa City VA Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss (CPTVL).
Affiliations
- University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Professor
- VA | Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss, Associate Director
- University of Iowa Institute for Vision Research, Member
- University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Genetics Program, Faculty Member
- University of Iowa Molecular Medicine Program, Faculty Member
Current Lab Members
Sarah Brumley
Ms. Brumley is an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa. She is working on an honor thesis project and to determine the contribution of endogenous multipotent cells to maintaining trabecular meshwork health and aqueous humor outflow.
Jordan Mayberry
Ms. Mayberry is a graduate student in the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics. Her research is focused on the role of adaptive immune responses in vision loss due to glaucoma. She joined the Kuehn lab in 2022.
Milan Joksimovic, PhD
Dr. Joksimovic is a visiting research scholar in the Kuehn laboratory. He is investigating mechanisms contributing to the development of Sudden Aquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS) and other non-paraneoplastic autoimmune retinopathies.
Shuyu Xian
Ms. Xian joined the lab in 2023 as a research technician. She is developing advanced techniques to determine the molecular activities of T-cells in the retina.
Yuyza Irizarry
Ms. Irizarry is a technician in the laboratory. Her main role is to explore how induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) can be used to restore function to the trabecular meshwork.
Merri-Grace Jones, PhD
Dr. Jones is a post-doctoral fellow who joined the lab in 2024 after graduating from the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Program in Immunology. She is investigating the role of adaptive immunity in the development and progression of vision loss in glaucoma .
Former Lab Trainees
Huilan Zeng, MD
Dr. Zeng was a visiting research scholar from Changsha, China and worked in the lab between January 2021 and May 2023. She investigated the contribution of T-cells to glaucoma pathology before returning to China to continue her medical career.
Riem Hassan
Ms. Hassan was a University of Iowa undergraduate student who interned in the lab during high school and participated in our research until 2022. She is skilled in immunohistochmistry and microscopy.
Lin Cheng, MD, PhD
Dr. Cheng is a graduate of the Central South University in Changsha. She continued her education as a research fellow at the Harvard Medical School and at Sun Yat-sen University. She is a stem cell expert and worked on the generation of retinal organoids in our lab. She moved to a new position at the University of Chicago in 2023.
Nathan Chen
Mr. Chen graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020. After joining the Kuehn lab he contributed to projects related to retinal neuroprotection and tested novel adenoviral variants for their transmission efficiency in the retina. He became a Medical Student at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in 2021.
Cheyanne Godwin
Ms. Godwin began working in the lab in the summer of 2016. As a Research Assistant she became an expert in immunohistochemistry and maintained our rodent colonies. She started Medical School in 2019.
Oliver Gramlich, PhD
Dr. Gramlich was a Research Scientist in the Kuehn lab from 2014 to 2019. His projects included investigations of the influence of autoimmune processes in glaucoma pathophysiology. He is an investigator at the Veterans Affairs Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss. In 2019 he joined the faculty of the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and started his own laboratory. His current research is focused on the ocular symptoms and treatments of multiple sclerosis.
Frank Loyo
Mr. Loyo joined the lab as part of the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) between 2018 and 2019. His projects included the generation and characterization of brain organoids, and the development of new mouse strains for our research. He is now a Research Associate in the Madison, Wisconsin area.
Kyle Gonsalves
Mr. Gonsalves was a graduate student in the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Genetics Program. He joined the lab in the summer of 2017 and was investigating microRNAs in ocular tissues and their roles in health and disease.
Alex Brown
Mr. Brown is a Biomedical Engineer who worked in the lab in 2017 and 2018. In our lab he was a specialist for in vivo imaging techniques and electrophysiological tests. He went on to obtain a PhD in Immunology from the University of Colorado in 2023.
Kim Miller
Ms. Miller was a student worker in the lab for many years before joining the lab full time in 2017. She carried out molecular and immunohistochemical analyses before heading off to medical school in 2018.
Wei Zhu, PhD
Dr. Zhu was a post-doc in the Kuehn lab between 2013 and 2016. During this time she demonstrated the ability of stem cells to regenerate the trabecular meshwork and restore aqueous humor outflow dynamics. She then joined the faculty of the Department of Pharmacology at Qingdao Universiy as an Assistant Professor and started her own laboratory.
Dina Ahram, PhD
Dr. Ahram was a graduate student in the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Genetics Program. She was a member of the laboratory from 2010 until her graduation in 2014 and carried out studies on the genetics of angle closure glaucoma. She is now Senior Technical Director of Clinical Molecular Genetics and Cytogenetics at Quest Diagnostics.
Anamaria Manea, MD
Dr. Manea was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab in 2011 and 2012. She went on to complete a pediatrics residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center and is currently affiliated with the Oregon Health & Science Hospital in Portland.
Juan Fernandez de Castro, MD
Dr. Fernandez de Castro was a research fellow in the lab between 2009 and 2010. He then completed a residency in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Louisville. He is now an ophthalmic surgeon in private practice in Florida.
Alina V. Dumitrescu, MD
Dr. Dumitrescu was a research fellow in the Kuehn lab between 2007 and 2009. She moved on to complete her residency training in Ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center and is now a member of the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa.
Bing Jiang, MD
Dr. Jiang was a research fellow in the laboratory in 2006 and 2007. She has resumed her position as a Professor of Ophthalmology at the 2nd Xiangya Hospital of the Central South University in Changsha, China.
Chan Yun Kim, MD, PhD
Dr. Kim was a research fellow in the Kuehn lab between 2004 and 2006. He is now a Professor of Ophthalmology at Yonsei University in Seoul.