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• Cataract

  Cataracts

  A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye. This is an area that is normally clear. Cataracts can cause cloudy or blurry vision.
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• Cornea
• Corneal Transplant

  Corneal Transplantation

  Corneal transplantation is a surgery that replaces your poorly functioning cornea with a new donated one. The most common form of corneal transplantation is called penetrating keratoplasty.
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• Keratoconus

  Keratoconus

  Keratoconus is an eye disorder in which your cornea slowly thins over time. The cornea also bulges out over time, to form a cone-like shape. Keratoconus causes nearsightedness and blurry vision.
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• Pterygium

  Pterygium

  A pterygium is a type of noncancer growth on your eye. It is often only a minor problem unless it causes vision problems.
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1. Sophie X Deng, Aurelie Dos Santos, Serina Gee. Therapeutic Potential of Extracellular Vesicles for the Treatment of Corneal Injuries and Scars. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2020 Nov 2. ;9(12):1, eCollection 2020 Nov
2. Lee Lenis, T., Zhang, W., Shibayama, V., Al-Hashimi, S., Aldave, A., Deng, S., Fung, S. Mulitmodal Corneal Imaging of Genetically Confirmed Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness Syndrome. Cornea. 2020 Nov;39(11);1446-1449
3. Clemence Bonnet, Parsia Vazirnia, Sophie X Deng, Anthony J Aldave, Kevin M Miller. Sutured Custom Foldable Silicone Artificial Iris Implantation Combined With Intraocular Lens Implantation and Penetrating Keratoplasty: Safety and Efficacy Outcomes. Cornea. 2020 Oct 21, Online ahead of Print.
4. Sophie X Deng, Friedrich Kruse, José A P Gomes, Clara C Chan, Sheraz Daya, Reza Dana, Francisco C Figueiredo, Shigeru Kinoshita, Paolo Rama, Virender Sangwan, Allan R Slomovic, Donald Tan, International Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency Working Group. Global Consensus on the Management of Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency. Cornea. 2020 Oct;39(10):1291-1302
5. Raquel Hernáez-Moya, Sheyla González, Arantza Urkaregi, Jose Ignacio Pijoan, Sophie X Deng, Noelia Andollo. Expansion of Human Limbal Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells Using Different Human Sera: A Multivariate Statistical Analysis. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Aug 25;21(17):6132
6. Sheyla González, Maximilian Halabi, David Ju, Matthew Tsai, Sophie X Deng. Role of Jagged1-mediated Notch Signaling Activation in the Differentiation and Stratification of the Human Limbal Epithelium. Cells. 2020 Aug 22;9(9):1945
7. Bonnet, C., Ghaffari, R., Alkadi, T., Law, S., Caprioli, J., Yu, F., Deng, S. Long-term outcomes of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty in eyes with prior glaucoma surgery. Am J Ophthalmol. 2020 Oct;218:288-295, Epub 2020 Jun 30
8. Zhang, C., Mei, H., Robertson, S., Lee, H., Deng, S.*, Zheng, J. A Small-Molecule Wnt Mimic Improves Human Limbal Stem Cell Ex Vivo Expansion. iScience. 2020 May 22;23(5):101075, Epub 2020 April 18 (*co-corresponding author)
9. Le, Q., Chauhan, T., Yung, M., Tseng, C., Deng, S. Outcomes of Limbal Stem Cell Transplant: A Meta-analysis. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2020 Jun 1;138(6):660-670
10. Liang, Q., Le, Q., Cordova, D., Tseng, C., Deng, S. Corneal Epithelial Thickness Measured Using AS-OCT as a Diagnostic Parameter for Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency. Am J Ophthalmol. 2020 Apr 10;216:132-139, Epub 2020 Apr 10

Two postdoctoral positions are available at Dr. Sophie Deng’s Laboratory, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles to study corneal stem cells with an emphasis on translational application and therapeutic development. One primarily focuses on Wnt signaling and Notch signaling in the regulation of human limbal epithelial stem cells. The other focuses on the characterization of exosomes derived from stem cells and explore their therapeutic role in the treatment of corneal diseases.