Marco Bassetto, Ph.D. receives IRRF 2023 Postdoctoral Scholar Awards

Dr. Bassetto developed his PhD in the field of ocular drug delivery. His early research aimed at establishing methods to enhance permeation of therapeutics within the eye after non-invasive, topical application. Indeed, most drugs are incompatible with the treatment of ocular diseases because they display unfavorable pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic profiles. Furthermore, invasive intraocular injections are the only way to achieve therapeutic concentrations of drugs inside the eye. The pediatric population is exceptionally vulnerable to retinal diseases because the risk of permanent retinal damage due to the treatment often exceeds the potential benefits of the therapy. Thus, most of these patients are not treated.
Dr. Bassetto is among the recipient of the 2022 pediatric ophthalmology career-starter research grant from the Knight Templar Eye Foundation to pursue the goal of establishing a universal method to improve the efficiency of retinal targeting of any eyedrop. Dr. Bassetto is also focusing on the study of retinoids flux within the retina in the healthy and disease states. Although photoreceptor’s function converges in the need for a continuous supply of 11-cis-retinal to sustain visual function over time, recent data suggest that rods and cones may use different enzymatic pathways to recycle all-trans-retinal back to 11-cis-retinal. By using genetically engendered animal models, Dr. Bassetto is determining the contributions of cell-specific pools of macromolecules in the regeneration of 11-cis-retinal within cones photoreceptors.