SUMMARY
Brittni A. Scruggs, M.D., Ph.D., researches regenerative approaches for retinal degeneration. She studies age-related macular degeneration and inherited retinal diseases. Dr. Scruggs focuses on optimizing viral vector development for improved safety in people with retinal disease. She is an adult and pediatric vitreoretinal surgeon who is an investigator in several surgical and nonsurgical retina clinical trials.
Focus areas
- Retinal gene therapy administration. Dr. Scruggs is a vitreoretinal surgeon with experience administering gene therapy in mice, pigs, primates and humans. In collaboration with other regenerative sciences researchers, she focuses on the development of hydrogel-mediated gene therapy delivery for improved safety and efficacy in the eye.
- Cell-based therapy for retinal degenerations. Dr. Scruggs and collaborators perform preclinical studies to determine the effects of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transplantation on retinal tissue preservation in eyes with geographic atrophy. Dr. Scruggs and her team developed and characterized the advanced macular degeneration large-animal model that is used for these studies.
- Identifying markers of aging in ocular fluids. Dr. Scruggs studies aging markers within the aqueous humor in people with advanced age-related macular degeneration. She and her collaborators use these markers as targets for senolytic therapy in patients with age-related macular degeneration.
Significance to patient care
In the rapidly advancing field of gene therapy for ocular diseases, innovative strategies are essential to overcome the challenges associated with traditional injection treatments. New strategies are being developed for inflammation and retinal thinning known as atrophy. There is a need for safer ocular gene therapy delivery routes. Dr. Scruggs and her colleagues are developing a product capable of a controlled, sustained release of gene therapy in the eye.
For treatment of more-advanced retinal disease not responding to gene therapy, Dr. Scruggs and colleagues are studying the effects of cell transplantation in a large-animal model with advanced macular degeneration.
In age-related macular degeneration, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells atrophy, leading to advanced age-related macular degeneration. Multiple studies support the increased expression of aging, also called senescence, genes in RPE cells over time. Dr. Scruggs and team are working to understand the markers of senescence within ocular fluids in patients with geographic atrophy to better develop a therapy for individuals with age-related macular degeneration.
The knowledge gained from these studies may lead to novel gene therapy, cell-based therapy, and senolytic therapeutics for age-related macular degeneration and inherited retinal diseases.
Professional highlights
- Editor, Retina Section, EyeWiki.org, 2023-present.
- Member, Inherited Retinal Disease Systemic Evidence Review Committee, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, 2023-present.
- Career Development Award, Mayo Clinic, 2023.
- Requests for Applications Grant, Mayo Clinic, 2022.
- Oregon Health and Science University:
- Fellow of the Year, 2020-2021.
- Annual Research Day Award, 2019-2020.
- Heed Fellowship Award, Heed Ophthalmic Foundation, 2019-2020.
- EyeRounds.org:
- Chief medical editor, 2018-2019.
- Member, editorial board, 2016-2019.
- P.J. Leinfelder Award, University of Iowa, 2017-2019.
- Research Forum Award, Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology and Research to Prevent Blindness, 2017.
- Research Award, VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation, 2015-2016.