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Professors
Barrett
G. Haik, MD, FACS (Chair)
Edward
Chaum, MD, PhD
Richard
D. Drewry, Jr., MD, FACS*
James.
C. Fleming, MD, FACS
Eldon
E. Geisert, Jr., PhD
Ralph S. Hamilton, MD
Roger L. Hiatt, Sr., MD*
Monica M.
Jablonski, PhD
Dianna
A. Johnson, PhD
Natalie
C. Kerr, MD, FACS
R.
Christopher Walton, MD, MHA
Matthew
W. Wilson, MD, FACS
Associate Professors
Mary Ellen Hoehn, MD
Alessandro Iannaccone, MD, MS
William R. Morris, MD
Sarwat Salim, MD, FACS
Jena J. Steinle, PhD
Assistant Professors
Elliott M. Kanner, MD, PhD
Thomas O'Donnell, MD
Andreea E. Partal, MD
Kathryn L. Reed, MD
Tonia S. Rex, PhD
Instructors
John M. Freeman, MD
Emily Taylor Graves, MD
John D. Hyatt, MD
David F. Jones, MD
Margaret E. Phillips, MD
John C. Randolph, MD
* Professor Emeritus
Professors
Steven Charles, MD
Jerre M. Freeman, MD
Thomas C. Gettelfinger, MD
Ivan Marais, MD
Spencer Thornton, MD
Audrey W. Tuberville, MD
Ralph Wesley, MD
Thomas O. Wood, MD
Associate Professors
Howard L. Beale, MD
Brian S. Biesman, MD
Ernesto Calvo, MD
Michael A. Dyer, PhD
Fletcher Goode, MD
Andrew Lawton, MD
Peter A.D. Rubin, MD, FACS
Richard E. Sievers, MD
Ming Wang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professors
Kathryn W. Byrd, MD
Jorge I. Calzada, MD
Thomas A. Currey, MD
Roger L. Deshaies, MD
James Freeman, MD
Lawrence W. Gordon, MD
Henry T. Grizzard, MD
Ralph F. Hamilton, MD
James
C. Hart, MD, MPH
J. Charles Henry, MD
Faramarz (Fred) Hidaji, MD
Tawan (Sunny) Khamapirad, MD
Sidney Kriger, MD
Melvin Litch, MD
Gary Passons, MD
William Bradford Priester, MD
Alan R. Schaeffer, MD
Instructors
Jesse M. Wesberry, MD
Erno
Lindner, PhD, DSc
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Tonia S.
Rex, PhD
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology
The Hamilton Eye Institute
930 Madison Avenue, Room 722a
Memphis, TN 38163
(901) 448-2094
trex@uthsc.edu
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Education
- Oct. 1995 to Jun. 2001: Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and
Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara, CA
- Sep. 1991 to May 1995: Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, minor in
Chemistry, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Research Interests
- Neuroprotective gene therapy in mouse models of retinal degenerative diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and glaucoma.
- Development, characterization, and treatment of a novel model of ocular trauma.
- Characterization of therapeutic dose curves for transgenes delivered by virus-mediated gene therapy.
Previous Research
- Development of novel animal models for Stargardt's disease, a
juvenile form of macular degeneration, and subsequent gene therapy.
- Analysis of changes in synaptic connectivity in the Rpe65-/- mouse
retina, a model for Lebers congenital amaurosis, and recovery by
treatment with lentivirus.Rpe65.
- Gene therapy for retinal degenerations including light damage, rds,
and Stargardt's disease, a juvenile form of macular
degeneration.
- Quantifying EGFP levels in individual cells of transgenic and
virally transduced animal retinas to study EGFP toxicity and gene
expression.
- Characterization of the amount and localization of various
photoreceptor cell proteins and quantified the number of cones
containing their opsin mRNA after retinal detachment and reattachment.
In addition, the energy metabolism status of the detached retina was
assessed.
- Characterization of the energy metabolic pathways of the rat retina.
This work resulted in the demonstration of a glucose transporter in
the rat retina.
- Characterization of the reduction-oxidation (redox) couple between
glutathione and ascorbic acid using a series of spectrophotometric,
biochemical assays.
Awards
- 2006 $50,000 Young Investigator Award Hope for Vision
- 2006 XIIth International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration Travel
Award
- 2000 Graduate Division Travel Award UCSB
- 1999 Alumni Research Award UCSB
- 1999 Neuroscience Excellence in Research Award UCSB
- 1997 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Travel
Award
- 1994-1995 Michigan Merit Scholar
- 1991-1994 Student Life Scholarship Oakland University
Professional Affiliations
- 2004-present: American Society for Gene Therapy
- 1997-present: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Invited Seminars
- 3/2/2007 Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation, Cleveland, OH
- 1/5/2007 Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
Cleveland, OH
- 9/25/2006 University of Iowa, Department of Internal Medicine, Gene
Therapy Program, Iowa City, IA
- 9/25/2006 University of Iowa, Ophthalmology Department, Iowa City,
IA
- 9/15/2006 Inserm at Hospital Saint-Antoine, Department of Cellular
and Molecular Physiopathology of the Retina
- 9/11/2006 University of Genova, Neuroscience Department, Genova,
Italy
- 9/6/2006 Max Planck Institute, Frankfurt, Germany
- 7/17/2006 University of Tennessee, Hamilton Eye Institute, Memphis,
TN
- 1/9/2002 University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute,
Philadelphia, PA
Recent Publications*
Articles
- Rex TS, Wong Y, Kodali K, Merry S. Neuroprotection of photoreceptors by direct delivery of erythropoietin to the retina of the retinal degeneration slow mouse. Exp Eye Res. 2009 Nov;89(5):735-40. Epub 2009 Jul 8. PMID: 19591826
- Allocca M, Doria M, Petrillo M, Colella P, Garcia-Hoyos M, Gibbs D, Kim SR, Maguire A, Rex TS, Di Vicino U, Cutillo L, Sparrow JR, Williams DS, Bennett J, Auricchio A. Serotype-dependent packaging of large genes in adeno-associated viral vectors results in effective gene delivery in mice. J Clin Invest. 2008 May;118(5):1955-64.
- Bennicelli J, Wright JF, Komaromy A, Jacobs JB, Hauck B, Zelenaia O, Mingozzi F, Hui D, Chung D, Rex TS, Wei Z, Qu G, Zhou S, Zeiss C, Arruda VR, Acland GM, Dell'Osso LF, High KA, Maguire AM, Bennett J. Reversal of blindness in animal models of leber congenital amaurosis using optimized AAV2-mediated gene transfer. Mol Ther. 2008 Mar;16(3):458-65. Epub 2008 Jan 22.
- Shindler KS, Ventura E, Rex TS, Elliott P, Rostami A. SIRT1 activation confers neuroprotection in experimental optic neuritis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2007 Aug;48(8):3602-9. PMID: 17652729
Book Chapters and Reviews
- Rex TS. (in press) Rescue of sight by gene therapy—closer
than it may appear. Ophthalmic Genetics.
- Rex TS. (in press) Virus-mediated gene delivery to neuronal
progenitors. RD 2006 Proceedings Volume.
- Dejneka NS, Rex TS. (in press) Rod Cell Death and Retinal
Degeneration. Apoptosis in the Retina.
- Dejneka NS, Rex TS, Bennett J. (2004) Gene therapy and animal models
for retinal disease. Genetics in Ophthalmology, p 188-198.
Abstracts
- Chung DC, Rex T, Lee V, Tang W, Wei Z, Oh E, Swaroop A, Bennett J.
(2007) Somatic in utero gene delivery to E14 Nrl-/- photoreceptors
induces rod specific protein expression. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.
E-Abstract: 1691.
- Rex TS, Lee V, Vandenberghe LH, Chung D, Wei Z, Wilson JM, Bennett
J. (2007) Evaluation of hybrid adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated
transduction of the fetal retina: impact of single amino acid changes
of the capsid. Molecular Therapy E-Abstract: 854.
- Bennett J, Bennicelli J, Wright F, Arruda VR, Zelenaia O, Hauck B,
Rex TS, Chung D, Wei Z, Narfstrom K, Pugh, EN Jr, Jacobs J, Dell'Osso
L, Zeiss C, Komaromy AM, Acland GM, High KA, Maguire AM. (2007)
Reversal of visual deficits in animal models of Leber Congenital
Amaurosis within weeks after treatment with an optimized
adeno-associated virus (AAV). Molecular Therapy E-Abstract: 745.
- Rex TS, Dejneka NS, Surace EM, Maguire AM, Bennett J. (2006)
Analysis of inner retinal changes in eyes of Rpe65-/- mice treated
with lentivirus-hRPE65. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 850
- Oh EC, Chung D, Rex T, Strettoi E, Khanna H, Khan N, Raven MA, Reese
BE, Bennett J. (2006) Nrl is a master regulator of rod photoreceptor
determination. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 4191
- Rex TS, Peet J, Surace E, Calvert P, Nikonov S, Lyubarsky A, Hughes
T, Pugh Jr EN, Bennett J. (2005) Quantification of EGFP expression in
living cells of the mouse retina and parallel electrophysiological
assessment of cell health. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. E-Abstract: 3370
* List updated July 2010
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