Sue Semple-Rowland Sue Semple-Rowland studies the cell biology of normal and diseased retinal photoreceptors and develops molecular-based therapies for treatment of inherited retinal disease. Professor of Neuroscience Director, IDP Neuroscience Graduate Program Investigator, McKnight Brain Institute Training Postdoc - Department of Ophthalmology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of Florida M.Sc. Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA B.A. Biology/Psychology, Gustavus Adophus College, St. Peter, MN Contact phone: 352.392.3598 office: MBI L2-181 lab: MBI L2-131, L2-163 email:rowland@mbi.ufl.edu Semple-Rowland lab site Rod and cone photoreceptor cells are highly specialized retinal cells that transduce light into neural signals that together constitute the foundation of visual perception. Genetic mutations that disrupt the fine-tuned biochemical machinery of these cells underlie the vast majority of inherited retinal diseases in humans. In my laboratory we are conducting studies to develop an effective gene therapy for treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA1), an inherited retinal disease that results in blindness in newborn and young children. We have recently restored sight to the avian model of LCA1 using lentiviral vectors to deliver corrective gene therapy. To extend the therapeutic benefits of this treatment, we are currently developing new lentiviral vectors capable of deliverying targeted combination treatments to neural retina. Our combination treatments consiste of corrective gene therapy paired with anti-apoptotic and/or neurotrophic gene therapies. Behavioral, molecular, biochemical, and histological and techniques are used to study the effects of these treatments on the visual performance of, and the status of retinal disease in treated animals. Recent Publications Viral vector-mediated delivery of estrogen receptor-alpha to the hippocampus improves spatial learning in estrogen receptor-alpha knockout mice. Foster TC, Rani A, Kumar A, Cui L, Semple-Rowland SL. Mol Ther. 2008 Sep;16(9):1587-93. Targeted expression of two proteins in neural retina using selfinactivating, insulated lentiviral vectors carrying two internal independent promoters. Semple-Rowland SL, . Eccles KS, Humberstone EJ. Mol Vision 2007; 13:2001-11 open access Lentiviral Expression of Retinal Guanylate Cyclase-1 (RetGC1) Restores Vision in an Avian Model of Childhood Blindness. Williams M, Coleman JE, Haire SE, Aleman T, Cideciyan A, Sokal I, Palczewski K, Jacobson, S, Semple-Rowland SL. PLoS Medicine, 2006 May 23;3(6):e201. open access AAV-GC1 restores light-driven cone arrestin translocation in cones of postnatal guanylate cyclase-1 knockout mouse retina. Haire SE, Pang J, Boye SL, Sokal I, Craft CM, Palczewski K, Hauswirth WW, Semple-Rowland SL. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006 Sep;47(9):3745-53.