Download Brief Bio - Jules Stein Eye Institute

Steven Nusinowitz, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology
Stein Eye Institute
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Brief Bio
Dr. Nusinowitz received a Master’s of Art and the Doctor of Philosophy from the Department of
Psychology at York University, Toronto, Canada, with a specialty in visual psychophysics and perception.
He did post-doctoral training at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas, Texas, before being
recruited to the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA in 1995. He is currently Full Professor in Residence and
is Director of the Visual Physiology Clinical Laboratory and the small animal Live Imaging and Functional
Evaluation (LIFE) core. Dr. Nusinowitz is a member of the Basic Science Division and the Retinal
Disorders and Ophthalmic Genetics Division.
Dr. Nusinowitz's primary research interest is the study of the sites and mechanisms of disease action in
inherited eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration and Stargardt
Disease. Using electrophysiological and psychophysical techniques, he is evaluating patients with
diseases of the retina and known genetic abnormalities to better understand how specific gene
mutations result in the wide spectrum of disease expression. In the laboratory, he is studying mice with
retinal disease in order to identify new candidate genes that may be involved in human disease.
Additionally, he is developing and characterizing mouse models that can be used to test hypotheses
about the underlying pathophysiology of ocular disease in both humans and mice, to document the
natural history of visual function in normal and diseased eyes, and to determine the efficacy of a variety
of treatment strategies.