
Debora B Farber
Professor, Ophthalmology, University of California Los Angeles
Laboratory
JSEI
Los Angeles, CA 90095
UNITED STATES
Office Address:
Office
DSERC
Los Angeles, CA 90095
UNITED STATES
Biography
Debora B. Farber is a biochemist and molecular biologist who has been a faculty member of the UCLA School of Medicine since she joined the Department of Ophthalmology in 1977. She became a full professor in 1984, a Karl Kirchgessner Endowed Chair in 2001 and a Distinguished Professor in 2007. She has been Associate Director for Research of the Brain Research Institute (1992 -1994) and Associate Director of the Jules Stein Eye Institute as well as Co-Chief of its Vision Science Division (1994 – 2004). Dr. Farber earned her M.S. in Chemistry and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, where she studied the cyclic nucleotide regulation of different processes. She started working on the retina and diseases affecting it when she joined UCLA, and soon thereafter she received a National Eye Institute Research Career Development Award. In addition to her continued support from NIH, Dr. Farber also was granted an NIH MERIT Award. She received the highest honorary degree, Doctor Honoris Causa, from the University of Göteborg, Sweden, the Proctor Medal from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the “Marraine 2005” honorary title from L’Association Degenerescence Maculaire Liee a l’Age, France. She also was the recipient of the Louisiana State University School of Medicine Distinguished Lecturer Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Neurosciences, the Alcon Research Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Vision Research, The Foundation Fighting Blindness Trustee Award, the Paul Kayser International Award of Merit in Retina Research, two Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigators Awards and the Visionary Award from The Vision of Children Foundation. UCLA granted Dr. Farber the Woman of Science Award, the Franklin D. Murphy, M.D. Prize from the UCLA School of Medicine and the David Geffen School of Medicine MAA Medical Science Award. She is an Editorial Board member of several journals and has given Plenary lectures at national and international meetings. She also was elected Trustee and Vice-President of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Publications
- Baulier E, Garcia Diaz A, Corneo B, Farber DB. Generation of a human Ocular Albinism type 1 iPSC line, SEIi001-A, with a mutation in GPR143.. Stem cell research, 2018.
- Peng Y, Baulier E, Ke Y, Young A, Ahmedli NB, Schwartz SD, Farber DB. Human embryonic stem cells extracellular vesicles and their effects on immortalized human retinal Müller cells.. PloS one, 2018.
- Young A, Dandekar U, Pan C, Sader A, Zheng JJ, Lewis RA, Farber DB. GNAI3: Another Candidate Gene to Screen in Persons with Ocular Albinism.. PloS one, 2016.
- Farber DB, Katsman D. Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Microvesicles: Could They be Used for Retinal Regeneration?. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2016.
- Young A, Wang Y, Ahmedli NB, Jiang M, Farber DB. A constitutively active Gai3 protein corrects the abnormal retinal pigment epithelium phenotype of Oa1-/- mice.. PloS one, 2013.
- Ahmedli NB, Gribanova Y, Njoku CC, Naidu A, Young A, Mendoza E, Yamashita CK, Özgül RK, Johnson JE, Fox DA, Farber DB. Dynamics of the rhomboid-like protein RHBDD2 expression in mouse retina and involvement of its human ortholog in retinitis pigmentosa.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2013.
- Katsman D, Stackpole EJ, Domin DR, Farber DB. Embryonic stem cell-derived microvesicles induce gene expression changes in Müller cells of the retina.. PloS one, 2012.
- Strom SP, Gao YQ, Martinez A, Ortube C, Chen Z, Nelson SF, Nusinowitz S, Farber DB, Gorin MB. Molecular diagnosis of putative Stargardt Disease probands by exome sequencing.. BMC medical genetics, 2012.
- Mokhonov VV, Theendakara VP, Gribanova YE, Ahmedli NB, Farber DB. Sequence-specific binding of recombinant Zbed4 to DNA: insights into Zbed4 participation in gene transcription and its association with other proteins.. PloS one, 2012.
- Young A, Jiang M, Wang Y, Ahmedli NB, Ramirez J, Reese BE, Birnbaumer L, Farber DB. Specific interaction of Gai3 with the Oa1 G-protein coupled receptor controls the size and density of melanosomes in retinal pigment epithelium.. PloS one, 2011.
- Saghizadeh M, Gribanova Y, Akhmedov NB, Farber DB. ZBED4, a cone and Müller cell protein in human retina, has a different cellular expression in mouse.. Molecular vision, 2011.
- Kitamura E, Gribanova YE, Farber DB. Regulation of retinoschisin secretion in Weri-Rb1 cells by the F-actin and microtubule cytoskeleton.. PloS one, 2011.
- Farber DB, Theendakara VP, Akhmedov NB, Saghizadeh M. ZBED4, a novel retinal protein expressed in cones and Müller cells.. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2010.
- Parry DA, Toomes C, Bida L, Danciger M, Towns KV, McKibbin M, Jacobson SG, Logan CV, Ali M, Bond J, Chance R, Swendeman S, Daniele LL, Springell K, Adams M, Johnson CA, Booth AP, Jafri H, Rashid Y, Banin E, Strom TM, Farber DB, Sharon D, Blobel CP, Pugh EN, Pierce EA, Inglehearn CF. Loss of the metalloprotease ADAM9 leads to cone-rod dystrophy in humans and retinal degeneration in mice.. American journal of human genetics, 2009.
- Saghizadeh M, Akhmedov NB, Yamashita CK, Gribanova Y, Theendakara V, Mendoza E, Nelson SF, Ljubimov AV, Farber DB. ZBED4, a BED-type zinc-finger protein in the cones of the human retina.. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2009.
- Yuan A, Farber EL, Rapoport AL, Tejada D, Deniskin R, Akhmedov NB, Farber DB. Transfer of microRNAs by embryonic stem cell microvesicles.. PloS one, 2009.
- Verardo MR, Viczian A, Piri N, Akhmedov NB, Knox BE, Farber DB. Regulatory sequences in the 3' untranslated region of the human cGMP-phosphodiesterase beta-subunit gene.. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2009.
- Souied EH, Reid SN, Piri NI, Lerner LE, Nusinowitz S, Farber DB. Non-invasive gene transfer by iontophoresis for therapy of an inherited retinal degeneration.. Experimental eye research, 2008.
- Young A, Powelson EB, Whitney IE, Raven MA, Nusinowitz S, Jiang M, Birnbaumer L, Reese BE, Farber DB. Involvement of OA1, an intracellular GPCR, and G alpha i3, its binding protein, in melanosomal biogenesis and optic pathway formation.. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2008.
- Saghizadeh M, Akhmedov NB, Farber DB. Identification and characterization of genes expressed in cone photoreceptors.. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2008.
- Jacobson SG, Sumaroka A, Aleman TS, Cideciyan AV, Danciger M, Farber DB. Evidence for retinal remodelling in retinitis pigmentosa caused by PDE6B mutation.. The British journal of ophthalmology, 2007.
- Yellore VS, Papp JC, Sobel E, Khan MA, Rayner SA, Farber DB, Aldave AJ. Replication and refinement of linkage of posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy to the posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy 1 locus on chromosome 20.. Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics, 2007.
- Tsang SH, Woodruff ML, Jun L, Mahajan V, Yamashita CK, Pedersen R, Lin CS, Goff SP, Rosenberg T, Larsen M, Farber DB, Nusinowitz S. Transgenic mice carrying the H258N mutation in the gene encoding the beta-subunit of phosphodiesterase-6 (PDE6B) provide a model for human congenital stationary night blindness.. Human mutation, 2007.
- Gao YQ, Danciger M, Ozgul RK, Gribanova Y, Jacobson S, Farber DB. Association of the Asn306Ser variant of the SP4 transcription factor and an intronic variant in the beta-subunit of transducin with digenic disease.. Molecular vision, 2007.
- Piri N, Mendoza E, Shih J, Yamashita CK, Akhmedov NB, Farber DB. Translational regulation of the rod photoreceptor cGMP-phosphodiesterase: the role of the 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions.. Experimental eye research, 2006.
- Tsang SH, Woodruff ML, Chen CK, Yamashita CY, Cilluffo MC, Rao AL, Farber DB, Fain GL. GAP-independent termination of photoreceptor light response by excess gamma subunit of the cGMP-phosphodiesterase.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2006.
- Kitamura E, Danciger M, Yamashita C, Rao NP, Nusinowitz S, Chang B, Farber DB. Disruption of the gene encoding the beta1-subunit of transducin in the Rd4/+ mouse.. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2006.
- Lerner LE, Piri N, Farber DB. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of the rod cGMP-phosphodiesterase beta-subunit gene. Recent advances and current concepts.. Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2006.
- Linberg KA, Fariss RN, Heckenlively JR, Farber DB, Fisher SK. Morphological characterization of the retinal degeneration in three strains of mice carrying the rd-3 mutation.. Visual neuroscience, 2005.
- Acosta ML, Fletcher EL, Azizoglu S, Foster LE, Farber DB, Kalloniatis M. Early markers of retinal degeneration in rd/rd mice.. Molecular vision, 2005.
- Lerner LE, Peng GH, Gribanova YE, Chen S, Farber DB. Sp4 is expressed in retinal neurons, activates transcription of photoreceptor-specific genes, and synergizes with Crx.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2005.
- Reid SN, Farber DB. Glial transcytosis of a photoreceptor-secreted signaling protein, retinoschisin.. Glia, 2005.
- Akhmedov NB, Yamashita CK, Tran D, Piri NI, Aguirre GD, Farber DB. Two forms of the large tumor suppressor gene (Lats1) protein expressed in the vertebrate retina.. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 2005.
- Piri N, Gao YQ, Danciger M, Mendoza E, Fishman GA, Farber DB. A substitution of G to C in the cone cGMP-phosphodiesterase gamma subunit gene found in a distinctive form of cone dystrophy.. Ophthalmology, 2005.
- Nusinowitz S, Nguyen L, Radu R, Kashani Z, Farber D, Danciger M. Electroretinographic evidence for altered phototransduction gain and slowed recovery from photobleaches in albino mice with a MET450 variant in RPE65.. Experimental eye research, 2003.
- Piri N, Yamashita CK, Shih J, Akhmedov NB, Farber DB. Differential expression of rod photoreceptor cGMP-phosphodiesterase alpha and beta subunits: mRNA and protein levels.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2003.
- Reid SN, Yamashita C, Farber DB. Retinoschisin, a photoreceptor-secreted protein, and its interaction with bipolar and muller cells.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2003.
- Farber DB, Tsang SH. Stationary night blindness or progressive retinal degeneration in mice carrying different alleles of PDE gamma.. Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library, 2003.
- Piriev NI, Yamashita CK, Shih J, Farber DB. Expression of cone photoreceptor cGMP-phosphodiesterase alpha' subunit in Chinese hamster ovary, 293 human embryonic kidney, and Y79 retinoblastoma cells.. Molecular vision, 2003.
- Saghizadeh M, Brown DJ, Tajbakhsh J, Chen Z, Kenney MC, Farber DB, Nelson SF. Evaluation of techniques using amplified nucleic acid probes for gene expression profiling.. Biomolecular engineering, 2003.
- Gao J, Cheon K, Nusinowitz S, Liu Q, Bei D, Atkins K, Azimi A, Daiger SP, Farber DB, Heckenlively JR, Pierce EA, Sullivan LS, Zuo J. Progressive photoreceptor degeneration, outer segment dysplasia, and rhodopsin mislocalization in mice with targeted disruption of the retinitis pigmentosa-1 (Rp1) gene.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002.
- Lerner LE, Gribanova YE, Whitaker L, Knox BE, Farber DB. The rod cGMP-phosphodiesterase beta-subunit promoter is a specific target for Sp4 and is not activated by other Sp proteins or CRX.. The Journal of biological chemistry, 2002.
- Akhmedov NB, Baldwin VJ, Zangerl B, Kijas JW, Hunter L, Minoofar KD, Mellersh C, Ostrander EA, Acland GM, Farber DB, Aguirre GD. Cloning and characterization of the canine photoreceptor specific cone-rod homeobox (CRX) gene and evaluation as a candidate for early onset photoreceptor diseases in the dog.. Molecular vision, 2002.
- Tsang SH, Yamashita CK, Lee WH, Lin CS, Goff SP, Gouras P, Farber DB. The positive role of the carboxyl terminus of the gamma subunit of retinal cGMP-phosphodiesterase in maintaining phosphodiesterase activity in vivo.. Vision research, 2002.
- Liu Q, Zhou J, Daiger SP, Farber DB, Heckenlively JR, Smith JE, Sullivan LS, Zuo J, Milam AH, Pierce EA. Identification and subcellular localization of the RP1 protein in human and mouse photoreceptors.. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2002.
- Farber DB, Danciger M. Identification of genes causing photoreceptor degenerations leading to blindness.. Current opinion in neurobiology, 1997.