Hongli Yang, PhD

Dr. Yang is a research scientist at Devers Eye Institute. She graduated from Tulane University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Yang has extensive experience studying the optic nerve head (ONH) using an experimental glaucoma model. She has been co-Investigator on several NIH grants and has published more than 20 key papers in the field. Her expertise involves 3D reconstruction, quantification, visualization, imaging processing, and statistical data analysis of monkey and human ONH anatomy using 3D histomorphometric reconstructions and optical coherence tomography images. The current BrightFocus grant will allow her to collaborate with Dr. Priya Chaudhary to develop novel techniques to identify cellular and protein expression alterations in early glaucoma that are present at the onset and progression of early OCT structural and intensity changes. This research will strongly enhance the interpretation of OCT findings and inform our understanding of the pathophysiology of early glaucoma. If early ONH OCT change can be shown to consistently occur at a point that immunohistochemistry detected axonal and myelin alterations are present, it will provide support for early non-IOP lowering, neuroprotective interventions in glaucoma suspect eyes.