For Media

Diane Bovenkamp, PhD, Vice President of Scientific Affairs, is the chief scientist at BrightFocus Foundation, overseeing global operations of the organization’s research programs. She serves as the scientific liaison in local, national, and international forums, and identifies and develops new research initiatives, partnerships, and funding policies consistent with the mission of BrightFocus.

Dr. Bovenkamp obtained her PhD in biochemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, discovering and studying Eph receptors in angiogenesis and neural development in zebrafish and mice. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, isolating and characterizing zebrafish neuropilins. Dr. Bovenkamp conducted further research at the Johns Hopkins University Bayview Proteomics Center in the Division of Cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, using proteomic techniques for biomarker detection in human serum.

Dr. Sharyn Rossi received her PhD in anatomy and neurobiology from the University of California, Irvine, where she studied stem cell replacement therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injury. She continued her post-doctoral work at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children studying spinal muscular atrophy, and Johns Hopkins University, using optogenetics to investigate how transplanted stem cells integrate into brain circuitry after traumatic brain injury. Prior to joining BrightFocus, Dr. Rossi was a senior research scientist at the National Institute on Aging, using neuroimaging, light-sheet microscopy, and novel interventions to investigate changes in the brain during normal cognitive aging.

Before joining BrightFocus, Dr. Preeti Subramanian was a research scientist at the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the NIH for 10+ years. Dr. Subramanian received her PhD in biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she identified a novel role for bioactive sphingolipid ceramide 1 phosphate (C1P) in mediating inflammation.

She completed her postdoctoral training at the NEI, performing investigations on pigment epithelium-derived factor, an ocular protein with neurotrophic activity. She continued her research in vision science at the NEI, identifying and studying potential therapeutic agents for diseases involving RPE oxidative stress (e.g., age-related macular degeneration).