About Us » FFB Funded Researchers
Gabriel Travis , M.D.
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Dr. Gabriel Travis graduated from the UCLA School of Medicine in 1977, and completed a medical internship and residency in neurology before deciding to leave clinical medicine and pursue a career in biomedical science. Dr. Travis completed postdoctoral fellowships in biochemistry at UCLA in 1984 and molecular biology at the Scripps Research Institute in 1989. During his second fellowship, Dr. Travis cloned the gene affected in the spontaneous mouse mutation, retinal degeneration slow (rds). In 1989, Dr. Travis moved to UT Southwestern in Dallas for his first independent faculty position. There, he studied the biochemistry and genetics of rds mutations in humans with inherited retinal degenerations using transgenic mouse models. Later, he cloned the gene for Rim Protein in photoreceptors, which was subsequently shown to be affected in Stargardt macular degeneration. He also developed a “knockout” mouse model for ABCA4-mediated inherited macular and retinal degenerations. In 2001, Dr. Travis was recruited to UCLA as full professor at the Jules Stein Eye Institute. Since moving to UCLA, Dr. Travis developed the strategy of treating macular degenerations associated with lipofuscin accumulation using inhibitors of the visual cycle. Currently, Dr. Travis is working to understand the molecular etiology of inherited retinal and macular degenerations caused by mutations in the ABCA4, IRBP, RGR, and RPE65 genes. He is also studying a new biochemical pathway in Müller cells for regenerating cone-opsin pigments. This cone visual cycle, first reported by Dr. Travis in 2002, supplies visual chromophore to cones under bright-light conditions. Dr. Travis was a recipient of the John Merck Fund Scholarship, a Ruth and Milton Steinbach Fund Award, and Alcon Award. Dr. Travis holds the Charles Kenneth Feldman endowed chair at UCLA, and the Research to Prevent Blindness Jules and Doris Stein professorship. Dr. Travis’ research is currently supported by grants from the National Eye Institute, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and the Macula Vision Research Foundation. |
