Dr. Stenkamp's research interests center on the examination of cellular and molecular mechanisms of vertebrate retinal development and regeneration, with a specific focus on photoreceptor differentiation, using zebrafish as the primary experimental model.

One area of current investigation is the involvement of specific factors such as the signaling protein, sonic hedgehog, in regulating the differentiation of rod and cone photoreceptors. The aim is to better define the sources of these factors in the developing retina, and determine their effects on photoreceptors by using gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches, including the examination of specific zebrafish mutants.

Another area of research is the study of retinal cell patterns in retina that regenerates following a chemical or sugical lesion. A computational approach to describing these patterns has revealed possible distinctions in mechanisms for neurogenesis and cell
differentiation during regeneration as compared to those that operate during normal development and growth. The lab has now begun to carefully compare the processes of ganglion cell regeneration and ganglion cell development using molecular markers.

Collaborators:

Dr. David A. Cameron, SUNY Upstate Medical University