Michael Hauser, PhD

Dr. Michael Hauser is a geneticist at Duke University.  He has studied a wide variety of genetic conditions, including muscular dystrophy, Parkinson disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; however his primary focus has been on the eye diseases age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.  Most recently, Dr. Hauser has worked with collaborators from Africa and around the world to examine the genetics of glaucoma in people of African ancestry, who are at increased risk of blindness from this disease.  Dr. Hauser has used genome-wide association studies involving thousands of affected individuals to identified genetic factors that increase risk of glaucoma.  His lab then further explores the mechanism of these risk factors in order to better understand the biology of disease and to pave the way for new treatments and clinical interventions that can benefit patients.