Group: Mackay Lab
PhD, University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children
Office: 3532A Thomas Hall
Website: Visit our Lab Home Page
Age-related eye diseases including macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are the leading causes of vision impairment and blindness in the United States, affecting more than 3 million Americans 40 years and older. Several disease mechanisms have been proposed including the unfolded protein response (UPR), oxidative stress pathways, and apoptosis. Drosophila has emerged as a powerful model-system for the study of human diseases including ocular hypertension and retinal degeneration. My research is focused on using Drosophila as a model system for age-dependent visual decline and to uncover genetic networks and mechanisms that contribute to aging.
Carbone MA, Ayroles JF, Stone EA, Jordan KW, Lyman RF, Magwire MM, Rollmann SM, Duncan LH, Lawrence F, Anholt RR, and Mackay TF. (2009). Systems genetics of complex traits in Drosophila melanogaster. Nature Genetics. 41(3):299–307.
Harbison ST, Carbone MA, Ayroles JF, Stone EA, Lyman RF, and Mackay TF. (2009).Co-regulated transcriptional networks contribute to natural genetic variation in Drosophila sleep. Nature Genetics. 41(3):371–375.
Carbone MA, Ayroles JF, Yamamoto A, Morozova TV, West SA, Magwire MM, Mackay TF, and Anholt RR. (2009). Overexpression of myocilin in the Drosophila eye activates the unfolded protein response: implications for glaucoma. PLoS ONE. 4(1): e4216.
Jordan KW, Carbone MA, Yamamoto A, Morgan TJ, and Mackay TF. (2007). Quantitative genomics of locomotor behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. Genome Biology. 8(8): R172.
Carbone MA, Jordan KW, Lyman RF, Harbison ST, Leips J, Morgan TJ, DeLuca M, Awadalla P, and Mackay TF. (2006). Phenotypic variation and natural selection at catsup, a pleiotropic quantitative trait gene in Drosophila. Current Biology. 16(9): 912–919.