Mihai Cosma
Mihai studied for his medical degree in Romania. He gained permission from his university to compress his course work and medical training into a shorter time period during his final year. This allowed him to start gaining research experience earlier than otherwise possible. Thus, Mihai joined the John lab as a research assistant. He briefly returned to Romania for his final examinations and graduated in 2004.
In the John lab, Mihai uses thorough ocular examinations genetic and molecular tools to understand glaucoma using inherited mouse models. Although Mihai had no experience in these areas when he joined us, he rapidly mastered both the theory and practical skills. Within a short time he was able to independently manage a large and complex mouse colony, and to longitudinally follow intraocular pressure (a delicate technique involving cannulation of the mouse anterior chamber that has a volume of approximately 5 microlitres). During the same time, he mastered examination and photography of the mouse anterior chamber, fundus and optic nerve (slit-lamp, ophthalmosocope and fundus camera). He has a keen eye and knowledge of a number of mouse phenotypes that resemble those in people, including pigment dispersion, transillumination defects, retinal degeneration, geographic atrophy, colobomas, optic nerve excavation and various forms of anterior segment dysgenesis. Mihai is starting his residency training in Portland, Maine, but plans to visit us and remain involved in projects as possible over the coming years. In the long-term, he intends to care for patients while conducting relevant research.
Howell GR, Libby RT, Marchant JK, Wilson LA, Cosma IM, Smith RS, Anderson MG, John SWM. 2007. Absence of glaucoma in DBA/2J mice homozygous for wild-type versions of Gpnmb and Tyrp1. BMC Genet 8:45
Anderson MG, Libby RT, Mao M, Cosma IM, Wilson LA, Smith RS, John SWM. 2006. Genetic context determines susceptibility to intraocular pressure elevation in a mouse pigmentary glaucoma. BMC Biol 4:20 http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7007-4-20.pdf
Libby RT, Anderson MG, Pang I-H, Robinson Z, Savinova OV, Cosma IM, Snow A, Wilson LA, Smith RS, Clark AF, John SWM. 2005. Inherited glaucoma in DBA/2J mice: pertinent disease features for studying the neurodegeneration. Vis Neurosci 22: 637-648
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