W Daniel Stamer

W Daniel Stamer

Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology

My laboratory studies the disease of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the United States, affecting nearly 3 million people (70 million Worldwide). The primary risk factor for developing glaucoma is ocular hypertension (high intraocular pressure, IOP). IOP is a function of the regulated movement of aqueous humor into and out of the eye.  Elevated IOP in glaucoma is a result of disease in the primary efflux route, the conventional outflow pathway, affecting proper homeostatic control of aqueous humor drainage.

Lowering IOP in glaucoma patients, whether or not they have ocular hypertension, is important because large clinical trials involving tens of thousands of patients repeatedly demonstrate that significant, sustained IOP reduction slows or halts vision loss. Unfortunately, current first-line medical treatments do not target the diseased conventional pathway and do not lower IOP sufficiently in most people with glaucoma. Therefore, finding new, more effective ways to medically control IOP by targeting the conventional pathway is a central goal the Stamer Laboratory.

Using molecular, cellular, organ and mouse model systems, my laboratory seeks to identify and validate novel drug targets in the human conventional outflow pathway to facilitate the development of the next generation of treatments for ocular hypertension and glaucoma.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology
  • Professor of Ophthalmology
  • Co Vice-Chair of Basic Science Research

Contact Information

  • Office Location: DUMC 3802, Durham, NC 27710
  • Office Phone: (919) 684-3745
  • Email Address: william.stamer@duke.edu

Education

  • Duke University School of Medicine, 1998
  • University of Arizona, College of Medicine, 1997
  • University of Arizona, College of Medicine, 1996
  • Ph.D. University of Arizona, 1996
  • B.S. University of Arizona, 1990

Courses Taught

  • BIOLOGY 293: Research Independent Study
  • BIOLOGY 493: Research Independent Study

Representative Publications

  • Youngblood, H; Schoenlein, PV; Pasquale, LR; Stamer, WD; Liu, Y, Estrogen dysregulation, intraocular pressure, and glaucoma risk., Exp Eye Res, vol 237 (2023) [10.1016/j.exer.2023.109725] [abs].
  • Suarez, MF; Schmitt, HM; Kuhn, MS; Watkins, T; Hake, KM; Weisz, T; Flynn, EJ; Elliott, MH; Hauser, MA; Stamer, WD, Genetic background determines severity of Loxl1-mediated systemic and ocular elastosis in mice., Dis Model Mech, vol 16 no. 11 (2023) [10.1242/dmm.050392] [abs].
  • De Ieso, ML; Kelly, R; Mzyk, P; Stamer, WD, Development and testing of a metabolic chamber for effluent collection during whole eye perfusions., Exp Eye Res, vol 236 (2023) [10.1016/j.exer.2023.109652] [abs].
  • Schmitt, HM; Hake, KM; Perkumas, KM; Lê, BM; Suarez, MF; De Ieso, ML; Rahman, RS; Johnson, WM; Gomez-Caraballo, M; Ashley-Koch, AE; Hauser, MA; Stamer, WD, Lysyl oxidase-like 1-antisense 1 (LOXL1-AS1) lncRNA differentially regulates gene and protein expression, signaling and morphology of human ocular cells., Hum Mol Genet, vol 32 no. 21 (2023), pp. 3053-3062 [10.1093/hmg/ddad128] [abs].
  • Safa, BN; Guzmán, NSF; Li, G; Stamer, WD; Feola, AJ; Ethier, CR, A Histomorphometric and Computational Investigation of the Stabilizing Role of Pectinate Ligaments in the Aqueous Outflow Pathway., bioRxiv (2023) [10.1101/2023.10.17.562754] [abs].