MCWMedical College of Wisconsin · Biology
Retinal Health and Gene Therapy Lab
Brian A Link · Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Research Focus
Dr. Brian A Link's lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin focuses on the cellular mechanisms involved in retinal health, particularly related to Usher syndrome type 1B. The lab investigates the MYO7A gene and its variants, which are linked to progressive retinal degeneration and other sensory deficits. By using various models including zebrafish and mutant mice, the research aims to understand how MYO7A mutations affect cell junctions in the retina, with the goal of informing future gene therapies.
MYO7AUsher syndromeretinal degenerationgene therapycell junctions
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the role of MYO7A in retinal cell junction integrity.
AIM 02Characterize the retinal isoforms of MYO7A and their functions.
AIM 03Assess the impact of MYO7A mutations on photoreceptor degeneration.
AIM 04Develop experimental models to study Usher syndrome-related retinal pathologies.
AIM 05Explore potential gene augmentation therapies for Usher syndrome.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemolecular cloninggene expression analysisimmunohistochemistryzebrafish modelsmouse modelsWestern blottingRT-PCRspatial analysisbioinformatics
Output against the department
Publications209top 31% of dept.322nd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.1kbottom 49% of dept.530th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.