Wei-Hua Lee, PhD

Education:
BS 2003, Biology, National Taiwan Normal University
MS 2006, Biological Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
PhD 2012, Medical Science (Neuroscience), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Research Interests:
Wei-Hua Lee, PhD was an assistant scientist of department of medical genetics at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interest was to understand the mitochondrial function and energy metabolism in the retina/RPE and identify the metabolic basis for retinal degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited forms of retinal degeneration. The goal was to use this knowledge to prevent or slow down retinal degeneration in
patients.

Her specific vision-related research projects included:
• Identifying novel genes that cause early retinal aging and age-related macular degeneration in mouse models
• Metabolic, cellular and molecular alterations during dysregulation of mitochondrial dynamics in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells
• NAD+ precursors and knocking out PARP1 improve vision, retinal health, reduce inflammation, and enhance balance in aging mouse models
• Inflammation and neurodegeneration in mouse retina and CNS
• Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis in mouse models with RPE degeneration and an early sudden death phenotype