Corneal Regeneration Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Gary "Hin-Fai" Yam, PhD
Research Associate Professor
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Lab Personnel
Gary Yam, Ph.D. Principal Investigator 
Moira L Geary Lab manager and Senior Research Associate (animal modelling)
Mithun Santra, Ph.D. Post-doctoral Associate
Elizabeth Rubin Student Researcher
Christine Chandran Student Researcher

Research Interests

Cornea is an organ that provides a visual portal to the world. The connective tissue of cornea (stroma) is extremely tough, transparent to light, and a crucial medium for light refraction. It also presents a significant protection to internal eye tissues. Globally, millions of patients have opaque corneas due to disease or trauma, hence vision loss. Our research focuses on the biological processes in maintaining the unique stromal tissue structure and functions and the pathological changes during injury, wound healing, scarring and diseases. We explore new designs to reverse the scarring process or replace the scarred cornea with bioengineered corneal tissue. Our lab has reported cell-based treatment with stromal keratocytes and stromal stem cells to restore corneal transparency. From our preclinical corneal injury models, the treatments produce tissue resembling the transparent stroma. In collaboration with the GMP culture facility of Immunologic Monitoring & Cellular Products Lab (IMCPL), Hillman Cancer Centre, UPMC, we established GMP compliant Standard Operating Procedures for clinical grade stem cell culture and quality control assays and methods to predict the anti-scarring potency of stromal stem cells. Our team recently received the National Institute of Health (NIH) Regenerative Medicine Innovative Project U01 award: EY035252 (9/2023-9/2025) to support a scale-up cGMP manufacturing of corneal stromal stem cells and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) studies. This project will provide crucial data to prepare for FDA-IND application and clinical trials. We are also investigate the mechanisms by which the stem cells induce tissue regeneration, including exosomes, cytokines, and microRNAs, and reducing pre-existing opacities.

Select Recent Publications

  1. Yam GH, Yang TB, Geary ML, et al. Human corneal stromal stem cells express anti-fibrotic microRNA-29a and 381-5p – a robust cell selection tool for stem cell therapy of corneal scarring. J Adv Res 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2022.05.008.
  2. Santra M, Liu YC, Jhanji V, Yam GH. Review: Human SMILE-Derived Stromal Lenticule Scaffold for Regenerative Therapy. Int J Mol Sci 2022. doi: 10.3390/ijms23147967.
  3. Jhanji, V, Santra M, Riau AK, .. Yam GH, et al. Combined Therapy Using Human Corneal Stromal Stem Cells and Quiescent Keratocytes to Prevent Corneal Scarring after Injury. Int J Mol Sci 2022. doi: 10.3390/ijms23136980.
  4. Weng L, Funderburgh JL, Khandaker I, .. Yam GH, et al. The anti-scarring effect of corneal stromal stem cell therapy is mediated by transforming growth factor b3. Eye Vision 2020. doi: 10.1186/s40662-020-00217-z.
  5. Khandaker I, Funderburgh JL, Geary ML, .. Yam GH, et al. A novel transgenic mouse model for corneal scar visualization. Exp Eye Res 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2020.108270.
  6. Shojaati G, Funderburgh JL, et al. Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduce Corneal Fibrosis and Inflammation via Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Delivery of miRNA. Stem Cells Trans Med 2019.
  7. Shojaati G, Funderburgh JL., et al. Compressed Collagen Enhances Stem Cell Therapy for Corneal Scarring. Stem Cells Trans Med 2018.
  8. Hertsenberg AJ, Funderburgh JL, et al. Corneal stromal stem cells reduce corneal scarring by mediating neutrophil infiltration after wounding. PLoS One 2017.
  9. Basu S, Funderburgh JL, et al. Human limbal biopsy-derived stromal stem cells prevent corneal scarring. Sci Trans Med 2014.

Contact Information

Gary.yam@pitt.edu
Gary.yam@upmc.edu