“The Development of the Photopigment Melanopsin as an Optogenetic Tool”

Melanopsin is a photopigment that plays a role in regulation of the circadian rhythm.  It has been exploited to allow control of gene expression using light.  This development may be useful for the pharmaceutical industry and for clinicians.

from Scientific American, May 2011

“I grew up in Lebanon, PA and attended Swarthmore College.  I developed an interest in neuroscience in college, but I was unclear what I wanted to do.  I worked for two years as a research technician in Steve Reppert’s lab at Mass. General Hosp./Harvard Medical School where I became interested in circadian rhythms.  I attended the University of Virginia for graduate school under the mentorship of Russell Foster.  After receiving my Ph.D. in 1996, I did a postdoc at Uniformed Services University under the tutelage of Mark Rollag.  It was here that we identified melanopsin and initiated our work this area.  In 2000 I became an assistant professor at Uniformed Services University.  I returned to my old department at the University of Virginia at the end of 2004 where I continue my research on nonvisual photoreception and where I teach undergrads.”

-Ignacio Provencio