Current Lab Members
Alan Horsager, Ph.D. | Principal Investigator
Alan Horsager received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, where he trained with Dr. Ione Fine. During his Ph.D. thesis, he used psychophysical and computational techniques to study the use of microelectronic retinal prostheses for treating blindness in human patients. He has over 8 years of industry experience and industry-university collaboration experience. In industry, his work experience includes medical device and pharmaceutical clinical research, regulatory affairs, and clinical project management. His academic knowledge includes the study of human visual perception during retinal electrical stimulation, computational modeling, retinal physiology, animal visual behavior, and molecular biology. Alan has received early career awards from the Coulter Foundation, Baxter Foundation, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
Richard M. Stewart, Ph.D. |
Postdoctoral Fellow at Keck School of Medicine
Richard M. Stewart contributes expertise in molecular neurbiology, biochemistry, genetics, and stem cell biology to develop novel applications in targeted gene therapy. Dr. Stewart received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences – Stem Cell Biology in 2010 as both a National Academy of Sciences Ford Fellow and an American Psychological Association Fellow studying cell signaling pathways that promote the self-renewal, proliferation, and epigenetics of cancer stem cells, neural stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells. He also received his M.S. Neuroscience from the University of Hartford and B.A. in Psychobiology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. In addition to part-time faculty positions at the University of Connecticut at Storrs and California State University at Fullerton, Dr. Stewart has over 6+ years combined industry and academic biomedical research experience. Currently, Dr. Stewart is a postdoctoral research associate at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of California.
Kimberly Silka, B.A. |
Lab Technician
Kimberly Silka received her B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern California in 2009. She was selected to take part in the Thematic Option College Honors Program and completed minors in Spanish and Public Policy. In her undergraduate years, she held various elected leadership positions on the USC Panhellenic Council and was a founding member of the USC chapter of Global Medical Brigades. She received the Order of Troy award in 2009 for her contributions to campus and community. Kimberly is now a medical student at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.
Justine Lee |
Undergraduate Researcher
Justine Lee is an undergraduate researcher pursuing her B.A. in Neuroscience and B.S. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at USC. Her current research project analyzes changes in gene expression of bipolar cells following photoreceptor degeneration. She is currently applying to medical school and plans to continue research post-graduation.
Jeffrey Zhang |
Undergraduate Researcher
Jeffrey Zhang is currently an undergraduate researcher pursuing his B.A. in Biomedical Engineering (with emphasis in biochemical) with a minor in business law at USC. He is currently contributing on both molecular and behavioral studies in the lab.
Lab Alumni