小澤 洋子

Yoko Ozawa M.D., Ph.D. works as a Chief of the Medical Retina Division (Age-related macular disease; AMD division) and a Vitreoretinal Surgeon, as well as a Lab Chief of the Laboratory of Retinal Cell Biology (RCB lab). Her recent research interest is the aging and neuroprotection of the retina, and its association with oxidative stress and inflammation. One of her missions is to find a neuroprotective treatment for the retinal diseases, such as AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa. During her training of the vitreoretinal surgery, she has become aware that simple surgical therapies do not always rescue the patients’ retina, and the additional approaches may be required for further improvement of the retinal conditions. Therefore, she joined a basic research lab, the Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Prof. Hideyuki Okano’s Lab, for mastering neurobiology of the retina, including development and regeneration. After taking the Ph.D., she returned to Department of Ophthalmology, and started her research for learning the pathophysiology of the retinal diseases and exploring new therapeutic approaches.