John H Fingert, MD, PhD

Dr. Fingert is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa. He is a board-certified ophthalmologist with fellowship training in glaucoma and has a Ph.D. in ophthalmic genetics. Dr. Fingert’s overall mission is to investigate the genetic basis of glaucoma and develop sight-saving therapies for this common group of blinding diseases. His early research resulted in the detection of the first glaucoma gene, myocilin, and more recently he discovered one of two known normal tension glaucoma genes, TBK1. Dr. Fingert’s laboratory is currently investigating the mechanisms by which defects in genes in the autophagy pathway (TBK1, OPTN, and others) lead to normal tension glaucoma using transgenic mice, induced pluripotent stem cells, and other patient-based studies. These investigations have great potential to reveal the causes of glaucoma at the most basic molecular level and facilitate the development of safe new therapies to prevent vision loss from this disease.