BioE PhD Defense Presentation
10-11am on Friday, November 6th, 2026
Location: IBB Suddath Meeting Room #1128
(Meeting ID: 935 505 593 46)
Committee:
Andrew J. Feola, PhD (Advisor)
(Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University; Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University; Atlanta VA Medical Center for Visual & Neurocognitive Rehabilitation)
C. Ross Ethier, PhD
(Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University)
Todd Sulchek, PhD
(Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University; George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)
Levi Wood, PhD
(Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University; George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)
W. Daniel Stamer, PhD
(Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University)
Early-onset menopause impact on the biomechanics and transcriptomic profile of the conventional outflow pathway
Glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, is characterized by peripheral vision loss due to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss. It’s projected to affect 112 million people by 2040, and 60-67% of the glaucomatous population are women. While elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) remains a major risk factor associated with developing glaucoma, recent work suggests that menopause is a sex-specific factor associated with glaucoma.
Studies have found that menopause had a linear association with the timing of glaucoma diagnosis, and that early-onset menopause increases the risk of developing glaucoma later in life. Menopause has also been shown to increase intraocular pressure (IOP) – the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma. However, the role of menopause in glaucoma development is still not well understood. To address this gap, this work characterizes the potential impact of early-onset menopause on IOP, eye biomechanics, and transcriptomic changes within the conventional outflow pathway, which is largely responsible for regulating IOP.
In a preclinical approach we modeled early-onset menopause via ovariectomy (OVX). In Aim 1, we focused on determining the impact of early-onset menopause over time on IOP and aqueous humor outflow facility, which is how easily fluid can exit the eye. In Aim 2, we investigated the impact of early-onset menopause on the stiffness of the segmental flow of aqueous humor (low flow and high flow) through the trabecular meshwork (TM), the major tissue regulating aqueous humor outflow within the conventional outflow pathway. Finally, Aim 3 assessed the transcriptomic changes within the TM induced by early-onset menopause to elucidate potential transcriptional mechanisms driving these functional changes. This work fills an existing gap in the field regarding the effects of early-onset menopause on parameters associated with glaucoma. Thus, in addition to potentially elucidating novel components of glaucoma etiology, this work has the potential to identify therapeutic targets that can lead to new glaucoma treatments in the clinic.
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