Frans Vinberg, PhD
Dr. Vinberg has over 10 years of experience in ocular research, specifically in retinal (patho)physiology. He has developed and commercialized a novel instrument to measure electrical activity of the retinal cells from ex vivo animal or human donor retina samples. He is currently tenure track Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and adjunct faculty in the Biomedical Engineering department as well as a member of the University of Utah Neuroscience program and admission committee, and a course director and lecturer of the Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience course. His research is focused on understanding the mechanisms in the photoreceptor cells that enable vision over a wide range of light intensities from a cloudy moonless night to a sunny day on the powdery slopes. Furthermore, his goal is to elucidate how these mechanisms are affected in the major blinding diseases including Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinitis Pigmentosa
In his free time, you can find Frans skiing, swimming or watching Formula 1 races.
Email: frans.vinberg(at)utah.edu
Silke Becker, PhD
Dr. Becker joined the Vinberg lab as a postdoctoral research associate in September 2017, and was promoted to Research Assistant Professor in June 2021. She currently investigates how diabetes and hypoxia affect light signaling in the retina using in vivo and ex vivo electroretinography. She completed her doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Philip Aaronson at King’s College London, where she investigated calcium signaling during hypoxia in the pulmonary vasculature. She has previously studied the potential of stem cell transplantation to improve retinal function in models of retinal ganglion cell loss in Professor G. Astrid Limb’s laboratory at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, UK, and gene therapeutic approaches to treat aberrant neovascularization in a model of retinopathy of prematurity in Professor Mary Elizabeth Hartnett’s laboratory at the John A. Moran Eye Center.
In her free time Silke likes to bake and we all benefit from that as she is also very generous in bringing fresh bread or cakes to the lab.
Email: Silke.Becker(at)hsc.utah.edu
Deepa Mathew, PhD
Dr. Mathew joins the Vinberg lab in March 2022 as a postdoctoral research associate. She completed her doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Raghava Varman Thampan at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, India, where she studied epididymal albumin and its interaction with sperm membrane proteins. She was fascinated by circadian biology after her summer training in the laboratory of Prof. M. K Chandrasekharan at JNCASR India. During her previous postdoctoral stints, Deepa studied the effect of circadian rhythm disruption on retinal physiology in mouse models in the laboratory of Dr. Ashay Bhatwadekar at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, and characterized the circadian and metabolic phenotype of ID2 null mice in the laboratory of Dr. Giles Duffield at the University of Notre Dame. Currently, Deepa is interested in investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in retinal remodeling during photoreceptor degeneration.
While not at work, Deepa hikes, doodles or spends time with her family, and she is rekindling her interest in photography.
Jordan Allen, Graduate Student
Jordan Allen is currently pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. He plans to use his degree to invent devices that will aid in research to prevent and treat those affected by degenerative retinal diseases. His primary focus at the Vinberg lab has been developing novel ex vivo human retina imaging techniques and a tool for precise extraction of samples from specific geographic regions of the human retina, including the fovea.
In his free time, Jordan loves to learn and create all sorts of things, including musical compositions, puzzle boxes and inventions with his 3D printer, and video games. When he's not working on a project, he's usually watching TV or playing games with his beautiful wife and their dog.
Lab alumni
Fatima Abbas, PhD, Postdoc 2017 - 2022 - Current position: Researcher at Genentech, San Francisco, CA
Nguyen Pham, BS, Graduate Student - Current position Clinical Application Specialist at BioFire.
Taylor Boyd, Undergraduate Student - Graduated with honors in 2021 from University of Utah, Current position Clinical Research Coordinator, Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Albert Kemp, Undergraduate Student - Graduated from Biomedical Engineering at University of Utah in 2021, Currently studying to become an Optometrist in Arizona College of Optometry.