Stem Cell Therapies, Retinitis Pigmentosa, and Pathways Of Care In Ophthalmology – Dr. Brian Ballios
Ophthalmologist and vision science researcher Dr. Brian Ballios provides an overview of stem cell therapies for inherited retinal diseases, including Retinitis Pigmentosa. Dr. Ballios further discusses the importance of genetic testing, highlighting that knowledge of a patient’s underlying mutation is often required to access clinical trials and approved therapies.
About the guest:
Dr. Brian G. Ballios, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences
The J. Ardeth Hill – Fighting Blindness Canada Professor in Ocular Genetics Research
Acquired and Inherited Diseases of the Retina, Vitreous and Choroid
Dr. Ballios is a fellowship-trained clinician scientist, with a focus on medical retinal disease and a subspecialty in inherited and genetic retinal disease. He holds appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto. He also holds staff appointment as clinician scientist at the University Health Network in the Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute, and is a staff physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and the Kensington Vision and Research Centre. He is a Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, where he has a laboratory investigating the mechanisms of retinal disease and the development of new stem cell-based therapies.
Dr. Ballios obtained both his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Toronto in the combined MD/PhD program. With a background in material science and Engineering Chemistry (Queen’s University), his doctoral work focused on new approaches to the transplantation of stem cells and their progeny for the treatment of retinal degeneration. After completing his FRCSC in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto, he undertook a subspecialty clinical fellowship in Inherited Retinal Disease at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard University.
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