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

  • 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 (2023) [10.1016/j.exer.2023.109652] [abs].
  • Ujiie, N; Norden, PR; Fang, R; Beckmann, L; Cai, Z; Kweon, J; Liu, T; Tan, C; Kuhn, MS; Stamer, WD; Aoto, K; Quaggin, SE; Zhang, HF; Kume, T, Differential roles of FOXC2 in the trabecular meshwork and Schlemm's canal in glaucomatous pathology., Life Science Alliance, vol 6 no. 9 (2023) [10.26508/lsa.202201721] [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, LOXL1-AS1 lncRNA differentially regulates gene and protein expression, signaling, and morphology of human ocular cells., Hum Mol Genet (2023) [10.1093/hmg/ddad128] [abs].
  • Aboobakar, IF; Collantes, ERA; Hauser, MA; Stamer, WD; Wiggs, JL, Rare protective variants and glaucoma-relevant cell stressors modulate Angiopoietin-like 7 expression., Hum Mol Genet, vol 32 no. 15 (2023), pp. 2523-2531 [10.1093/hmg/ddad083] [abs].
  • Strohmaier, CA; Wanderer, D; Zhang, X; Agarwal, D; Toomey, CB; Wahlin, K; Zhang, HF; Stamer, WD; Weinreb, RN; McDonnell, FS; Huang, AS, Greater Outflow Facility Increase After Targeted Trabecular Bypass in Angiographically Determined Low-flow Regions., Ophthalmol Glaucoma (2023) [10.1016/j.ogla.2023.06.008] [abs].