Robert N Fariss

As an undergrad in Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara 35 years ago, I was introduced to the field of retinal cell biology in the lab of Dr. Steven K. Fisher. My introduction to photoreceptor-RPE interactions in Dr. Fisher’s lab included assisting Dr. Kenneth Long (then a graduate student) in the analysis of outer segment disc shedding in the cone dominant California ground squirrel. I pursued a Ph.D. in Dr. Fisher’s lab, with an emphasis in cell biology and neuroscience. My thesis work utilized a retinal detachment model developed in Dr. Fisher’s lab to analyze the sub-cellular localization of proteins in normal and degenerating photoreceptors. This work also included TEM analysis of the rod and cone matrix domains in mammalian retinas and the relationship of these domains to the rod and cone-specific RPE apical microvilli ensheathing the outer segments. My post-doctoral studies with Dr. Ann Milam, head of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Histopathology Laboratory at University of Washington in Seattle utilized confocal microscopy to characterize neuronal plasticity in donor retinal tissues from patients with retinitis pigmentosa. At the University of Washington Dept. of Ophthalmology, I completed a second post-doc with Dr. Palczewski which allowed me to continue to use confocal and EM techniques to study mammalian photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium. In 2000, I accepted a staff scientist position at the National Eye Institute at NIH, heading that institute’s new confocal microscopy unit. In August 2005, I was promoted to Chief of the NEI Biological Imaging Core. The NEI Biological Imaging Core which I currently direct has a wide range of advanced imaging instrumentation including confocal, multi-photon scopes and Airyscan super-resolution systems. The instrumentation and expertise within the Biological Imaging Core have permitted me to continue to pursue exciting studies, including topics related to retinal degeneration photoreceptor degeneration and physiological implications of photoreceptor-RPE interactions.