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My principal research project focuses on the role of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) that is located between the choroid and the neural retina. The RPE is a vital tissue for the maintenance of photoreceptor function and it is also affected by many diseases of the retina and choroid like age–related macular degeneration. As its name indicates, the RPE is pigmented: the two major pigments are melanin and lipofuscin whose roles in the eye remain somewhat speculative. The questions I am working on are, e.g: what role do melanin and lipofuscin play in health and disease? How can lipofuscin be removed from the RPE? Why does the RPE partially lose its function in elderly people, and how can the function of the RPE be maintained or even restored?
My other research interests are: Transport of proteins after intravitreal application, gene and pharmacological therapies, mechanisms of pathological neovascularisation, generation of relevant cellular and animal models for preclinical studies, neuroprotection.
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Section of Experimental Vitreoretinal Surgery
Centre for Ophthalmology
Schleichstrasse 12/1
72076 Tübingen
Germany
Phone: +49 7071-29 84 888
Fax: +49 7071-29 4554
CV of Sylvie Julien [pdf]