Leonid E. Lerner
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Irvine
101 The City Drive South
Bldg 55, Room 206
Orange, CA 92868
Office: (714) 456-7361
llerner@uci.edu
Research Interests:
Adult stem cell biology focusing on retinal development and stem cell-based therapy of retinal degenerative and age-related diseases.
Dr. Lerner's research interests are focused on the investigations into the pathogenesis and developing new therapeutic strategies for the management of the degenerative and age-related diseases affecting vision, such as age-related macular degeneration. In particular, his lab studies the biology of adult, bone marrow-derived stem cells focusing on their regenerative as well as paracrine (e.g. neuroprotective and neurotrophic) effects and secreted factors, and their therapeutic applications to retinal diseases; cell surface markers of retinal development; and developing stem cell-based therapy for retinal degenerative and age-related diseases. In addition to basic science research, Dr. Lerner is a physician-scientist involved in clinical trials of new therapies for retinal diseases as part of the UCI Eye Institute.
Dr. Lerner completed his PhD in Molecular Biology at the UCLA Boyer Molecular Biology Institute in Los Angeles, CA. He also completed a research fellowship in cell biology at the University of California, San Francisco. In addition, Dr. Lerner completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Southern California Medical Center followed by his residency in Ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Following his residency, Dr. Lerner completed a two-year fellowship in retinal diseases and surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to joining the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Dr. Lerner was on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia, where he was a Scientist at the F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology and an Instructor in Vitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery.
