Wai T Wong
Investigator
Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease
National Eye Institute
United States of America
Biography
Wai T. Wong, M.D., Ph.D. is a staff clinician in the Retina Service at the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Wong is the head of the Unit on Neuronal-Glial Interactions in Retinal Disease. He earned his B.S. in Biology and Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At Washington University Medical School in Saint Louis, Dr. Wong earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Following medical school, Dr. Wong completed his internship and residency at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005 he became an NEI employee, and in 2007 he became a board certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Wong is a medical retina specialist and sees patients at the NEI clinic. In addition, he is involved in clinical research and clinical trails at the NEI. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Wong is involved in numerous clinical trials on diseases such as, early age-related macular degeneration (AMD), geographic atrophy, macular telangiectasia, and diabetic retinopathy. When Dr. Wong isn’t in the clinic he is in the laboratory studying how microglia cells (supporting cells in the retina) interact with nerve cells under normal conditions and in the context of disease. Dr. Wong’s goal is to apply what he learns in the laboratory to the design and application of new treatments for retinal diseases in the NEI clinic.
Research Interest
Ophthalmology and Neuroscience.
Publications
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Wang M, Wang X, Zhao L, Ma W, Rodriguez IR, Fariss RN, Wong WT. Macroglia-microglia interactions via TSPO signaling regulates microglial activation in the mouse retina. Journal of Neuroscience. 2014 Mar 5;34(10):3793-806.
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Zhao L, Zabel MK, Wang X, Ma W, Shah P, Fariss RN, Qian H, Parkhurst CN, Gan WB, Wong WT. Microglial phagocytosis of living photoreceptors contributes to inherited retinal degeneration. EMBO molecular medicine. 2015 Sep 1;7(9):1179-97.
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Zabel MK, Zhao L, Zhang Y, Gonzalez SR, Ma W, Wang X, Fariss RN, Wong WT. Microglial phagocytosis and activation underlying photoreceptor degeneration is regulated by CX3CL1â€CX3CR1 signaling in a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. Glia. 2016 Sep 1;64(9):1479-91.
