Ruchi
Sharma

Dr. Sharma is a Senior Scientist at the National Eye Institute, NIH, USA. She is a stem cell expert with a decade of experience using iPS cell-derived retinal cells to discover treatments for retinal degeneration using small-molecules, gene therapies, and cell-based therapies. She has published 25 manuscripts in this area, including developing an autologous iPS cell derived-RPE cell therapy and patient iPS cell derived in vitro disease models for AMD, Stargardt disease, albinism, and ciliopathies. At the National Eye Institute, she co-heads OSCTR, a group of 25 people, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and senior scientists. She was won numerous NEI Directors awards and also two awards from the NIH Director for her innovative approaches.