WELCOME TO THE MOWAT LAB
Dr. Freya Mowat’s research focuses on outer retinal aging and disease.
Dr. Mowat is an Assistant Professor with joint appointments in the Department of Surgical Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She is a trainer in the Comparative Biomedical Sciences and Cellular and Molecular Pathology graduate programs, and a member of the McPherson Eye Research Institute.
Dr. Mowat is funded by the NIH National Eye Institute to study mechanisms of macular susceptibility to dysfunction and degeneration.
The laboratory’s broad research focus areas include:
- Examining the effect of aging and oxidative damage on the canine central retina.
- Defining the role of isoforms of the mitochondrial regulator peroxisome proliferative activated receptor gamma,
- coactivator 1-alpha (PPARGC1a or PGC1a) on photoreceptor health in the aging retina.
- Defining the autoimmune basis and hormonal imbalances underlying the neuroendocrine dysfunction in dogs with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS).
- Examining new cases of clinical retinal disease in companion or wild animals for possible genetic involvement.
