Mike Cheetham

Mike Cheetham is a Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO). He did a degree in genetics in Swansea before training in immunology then molecular biology. Mike completed his Ph.D. on Alzheimer’s disease at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, and worked on other forms of dementia before moving to the IoO as a lecturer in 1995 when he started working on inherited retinal dystrophy. He was promoted to Professor in 2005. The research in the Cheetham lab is now focused on the cell biology of protein homeostasis (proteostasis) in the nervous system and understanding the molecular basis of inherited retinal dystrophy and developing therapies. The lab uses a combination of model systems, including animal and stem cell models, to probe disease mechanisms and has pioneered the use of 3D retinal organoids to model human genetic diseases. For example, they have used this technology recently to help develop antisense therapy for LCA10, which is now in Phase 3 clinical trial.