Raunak Sinha, PhD

Position title: Associate Professor, Dept. of Neuroscience and Director, Neuroscience Training Program

Phone: 608-263-6265

Organ System/Disease Focus: Retina, Retinal Organoid, Neurodevelopmental/degenerative disorders
Aligned Research Focus: Neuronal physiology in mammalian retina, animal models of neurodevelopmental disorders, and human stem cell derived retinal organoids.

Research Description:

Research in Dr. Sinha’s lab focuses on the mechanisms of signal transduction in photoreceptors and information processing within neural circuits of the mammalian retina. His lab applies this basic understanding of neuronal signaling in the retina to evaluate/improve the functionality of human stem cell-derived retinal organoids as robust in-vitro models of human retina for studying disease and developing therapeutics. This work integrates single-cell electrophysiology, computational modeling, and advanced imaging approaches, including optical and serial electron microscopy.

Selected References:

Saha A, Capowski E, Zepeda M A F, Nelson E C, Gamm D G, Sinha R. Cone photoreceptors in human stem cell-derived retinal organoids demonstrate intrinsic light responses that mimic those of primate fovea. Cell Stem Cell 2022 Mar 03;29(3): 460-471. PMID: 35104442.