Russell Van Gelder is an American clinician-scientist and board-certified
ophthalmologist
Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
; he has served as the chair of the
University of Washington Medicine Department of Ophthalmology since 2008
and Editor-in-Chief of the journal ''
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
'' since 2022.
He is known for his research on the mechanisms of
uveitis
Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and ...
, non-visual photoreception in the eye, and vision-restoration methods for
retinal degenerative disease, as well as his leadership and advisory positions in various American ophthalmological and medical societies.
Education
Van Gelder graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan in New Jersey in 1981. He attended
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
for his Bachelors, and
MD/Ph.D.: receiving his bachelors in Biological Sciences in 1985, and his MD/Ph.D. in Neurosciences in 1994 as part of the
MSTP, during which time he studied the molecular basis for
circadian rhythm
A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogenous) and responds to the env ...
s.
He then completed an internal medicine internship at Stanford before moving to Washington University in St. Louis/
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Barnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End, St. Louis, Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicin ...
in 1995, where he was a resident in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Here, Van Gelder also completed his Uveitis and Medical Retina fellowship in 1999, where he studied inflammation of the eye.
Career
Van Gelder joined the
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
faculty full-time as an assistant professor in 1999. A year later, he also became an adjunct assistant professor of molecular biology and pharmacology. He was named Bernard Becker Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2006. Van Gelder remained at Washington University until he moved to the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in 2007, where he has been involved in research on non-visual photoreception and pathogen detection in uveitis.
He currently serves as the Boyd K. Bucey Memorial Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, and Director of the Roger and Angie Karalis Johnson Retina Center at the University of Washington.
Research
The Van Gelder Lab, funded continuously since 1999 by the National Institutes of Health, develops photochemical methods to treat blindness and discover microorganisms associated with various eye diseases, such as ocular infectious diseases, including
microbial keratitis,
conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye or Madras eye, is inflammation of the conjunctiva, the thin, clear layer that covers the white surface of the eye and the inner eyelid. It makes the eye appear pink or reddish. Pain, burning, scratchiness ...
, and
endophthalmitis
Endophthalmitis, or endophthalmia, is inflammation of the interior cavity of the eye, usually caused by an infection. It is a possible complication of all intraocular surgeries, particularly cataract surgery, and can result in loss of vision or l ...
, which are a significant cause of blinding diseases. Using techniques such as
deep sequencing
In genetics, coverage is one of several measures of the depth or completeness of DNA sequencing, and is more specifically expressed in any of the following terms:
*Sequence coverage (or depth) is the number of unique reads that include a given nuc ...
and other molecular methods, the Van Gelder lab analyzes the host microbiome and analyzes pathologic strains of viruses and bacteria causing inflammatory eye disease.
The Van Gelder lab is investigating synthetic small molecule photoswitches as a therapeutic for degenerative blinding diseases (such as
age-related macular degeneration
Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Some people experien ...
, which is caused by death of rods and cones). The Van Gelder lab is also working to understand mammalian circadian rhythms and studies mouse models to understand clock synchronization using light, cell-level research of light perception, and issues related to
seasonal affective disorder
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder subset in which people who typically have normal mental health throughout most of the year exhibit depressive symptoms at the same time each year. It is commonly, but not always, associated w ...
.
Van Gelder has been published in a number of high-impact peer-reviewed scientific journals, including ''Science'', ''Neuron'', ''Nature'', ''Nature Medicine'', ''Nature Genetics'', and ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences''.
He has published over 200 different academic papers and book chapters.
Amplified RNA
Dr. Van Gelder's 1990 PNAS paper is one of his most influential and highly cited contribution to the fields of neuroscience and recombinant DNA technology. Prior to the publication of this paper, the cloning and analysis of low-abundance
mRNAs
In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein.
mRNA is created during the p ...
in the brain was exceedingly difficult. However, working in Dr. Jack Barchas' lab at Stanford and in collaboration with Drs. Mark von Zastrow and James Eberwine, Van Gelder developed a technique called
antisense RNA
Antisense RNA (asRNA), also referred to as antisense transcript, natural antisense transcript (NAT) or antisense oligonucleotide, is a single stranded RNA that is complementary to a protein coding messenger RNA (mRNA) with which it hybridizes, and ...
amplification that was able to generate amplified RNA populations from limited amounts of
cDNA
In genetics, complementary DNA (cDNA) is DNA that was reverse transcribed (via reverse transcriptase) from an RNA (e.g., messenger RNA or microRNA). cDNA exists in both single-stranded and double-stranded forms and in both natural and engin ...
in order to obtain ample amounts of
nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a pentose, 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nuclei ...
needed for standard cloning techniques.
Eventually, Van Gelder and his coauthors were granted 5 patents for this amplification technique, the most recent in 2006.
This technique used a synthetic oligonucleotide primer containing a
T7 RNA polymerase
T7 RNA Polymerase is an RNA polymerase from the T7 bacteriophage that catalyzes the formation of RNA from DNA in the 5'→ 3' direction.
Activity
T7 polymerase is extremely promoter-specific and transcribes only DNA downstream of a T7 promo ...
promoter sequence. This was able to generate large quantities (up to 80-fold) of amplified antisense RNA (aRNA) from significantly smaller samples of cDNA.
This technique has been widely used in many molecular biology labs. Since its development, further applications of aRNA amplification have been devised, some of which includ
protein detectionwhole-genome DNA amplification
and DNA microarray
A DNA microarray (also commonly known as a DNA chip or biochip) is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. Scientists use DNA microarrays to measure the expression levels of large numbers of genes simultaneously or t ...
.
Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells
In a 2005 Neuron paper, Dr. Van Gelder found that intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which are responsible for mediating non-visual processes such as entrainment
Entrainment may refer to:
* Air entrainment, the intentional creation of tiny air bubbles in concrete
* Brainwave entrainment, the practice of entraining one's brainwaves to a desired frequency
* Entrainment (biomusicology), the synchronization o ...
, are the first light-sensitive cells in the retina. Using a micro-electrode array in the ipRGCs of murine mice, Dr. Van Gelder found that there are three distinct cell populations in the postnatal day 8 (P8) retina, varying in their speed of onset, offset, and sensitivity. Further investigation found that even the postnatal day 0 retina displayed some intrinsic light response, with increased photosensitivity around day 6. These findings suggest that ipRGCs are the first photosensitive cells in the development of the retina.
Neuropsin-Mediated Photoentrainment
In a 2015 PNAS paper, Dr. Van Gelder and colleagues (with first author former postdoctoral fellow Ethan Buhr) found that Opsin-5 is sufficient for the entrainment of the molecular circadian clock in the mammalian retina. Entrainment to light in the mammalian retina is independent of the suprachiasmatic nucleus ( SCN) and does not require rods, cones, or melanopsin
Melanopsin is a type of photopigment belonging to a larger family of light-sensitive retinylidene protein, retinal proteins called opsins and encoded by the gene ''Opn4''. In the mammalian retina, there are two additional categories of opsins, b ...
. While the short-wavelength sensitive cone pigments OPN1SW
Blue-sensitive opsin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''OPN1SW'' gene. The OPN1SW gene provides instructions for making a protein that is essential for normal color vision. This protein is found in the retina, which is the light-sensi ...
and OPN3
Opsin-3 also known as encephalopsin or panopsin is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''OPN3'' gene. Alternative splicing of this gene results in multiple transcription (genetics), transcript variants encoding different protein isoforms. ...
are not required for entrainment, Dr. Van Gelder's group found that retinas that lack OPN5, which are expressed in select retinal ganglion cells, are unable to entrain even though these cells still maintain normal visual functions. Additionally, Dr. Van Gelder's lab found that OPN5 was sufficient in entraining the circadian rhythms of mice cornea ex-vivo, ascertaining the function of OPN5, which until then was classified as an orphan opsin.
Detection and Treatment of Uveitis
Dr. Van Gelder has worked extensively on the use of optical coherence tomography
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution imaging technique with most of its applications in medicine and biology. OCT uses coherent near-infrared light to obtain micrometer-level depth resolved images of biological tissue or oth ...
(OCT), a non-invasive imaging technique that uses low-coherence light to capture micrometer resolution images. Dr. Van Gelder's work in this field has included the use of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), which involves the use of a line-scan camera, instead of a spectrometer as is conventionally used in OCT. This allows for faster and higher resolution imagin
Dr. Van Gelder has used SD-OCT to image the inflammation associated with uveitis in rat model
as well as other macular degeneration.
Memberships
Van Gelder currently serves on the Council of Councils to the National Institutes of Health.ophthalmology
Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
clinical publication, by the American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is a professional association, professional medical association of ophthalmologists. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its membership of 32,000 medical doctors includes more than 90 percent ...
in February 2022.
Awards and certifications
Van Gelder is the recipient of numerous awards for his research including:
* Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award
* Culpeper Foundation Clinician-Scientist Award
* Translational Scientist Award of the Burroughs-Wellcome Foundation
* Bressler Award from the Lighthouse Guild
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Gelder, Russell
American ophthalmologists
21st-century American scientists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)