Affiliation: UMass Medical School

Dr. Hemant Khanna obtained his PhD degree from The University of Delhi India and postdoctoral training in the Kellogg Eye Center at University of Michigan. Dr. Khanna is currently a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His laboratory focuses on delineating the molecular mechanisms involved in photoreceptor degeneration during disease and utilizing such knowledge to develop novel therapeutic paradigms for blinding disorders. Dr. Khanna has a background in genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology of retinal degenerative diseases. He utilizes a variety of experimental approaches, including genetic, cell biological, and biochemical approaches to understand the mechanisms of photoreceptor degeneration. His laboratory routinely performs in vivo ocular delivery of AAV vectors and small molecules into mice and large animals (such as pigs and monkeys). The Khanna lab was the first to demonstrate the potential of minigenes to delay retinal degeneration in mice. Dr. Khanna is also a member of the Horae Gene Therapy Center and Li Weibo Rare Disease Institute at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (https://www.umassmed.edu/khannalab/).