Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Ken Mitton
Assistant Professor at the Eye Research Institute
Ken Mitton joined Oakland University in 2001 as an assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the Eye Research Institute. Mitton investigates mechanisms by which specific genes in the retina are regulated during development and also during the course of potentially blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration.
In his work, Mitton has discovered a new retinal protein, called Fiz1, which may function as an important repressor of gene expression in this ocular tissue. His long-term goal is to apply his results to future sight-saving treatments, possibly linked with gene therapy.
To continue his research on Fiz1, Mitton recently was awarded a four-year, $1.1 million grant from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.