Large-Scale microRNA Expression Profiling Identifies Putative Retinal miRNA-mRNA Signaling Pathways Underlying Form-Deprivation Myopia in Mice.

My research lies at the intersection of surface and colloid science, polymer materials engineering, and biointerface science, with four central areas of focus:

1. Fabrication, manipulation and characterization of stimulus-responsive biomolecular and bio-inspired polymeric nanostructures on surfaces;
2. Nanotechnology of soft-wet materials and hybrid biological/non-biological microdevices;
3. Receptor-ligand interactions relevant to the diagnostics of infectious diseases;
4. Friction of soft-wet materials, specifically the role of glycoproteins on friction in diarthroidal joints.

These four broad lines of inquiry deal with fundamental behaviors of soft-wet materials on surfaces and interfaces. The design and fabrication of these interfaces using "smart" polymeric and biomolecular nanostructures, and the characterization of the resulting structures, are critically important for the development of biomolecular sensors and devices and for bioinspired materials. Key approaches and tools I use in my research are: bottom-up organization on the molecular scale, through self-assembly, in-situ polymerization, and manipulation of intermolecular interactions; topdown fabrication, through scanning probe nanolithography; stimulus-responsive polymers; molecular recognition; and new approaches to sensing and manipulation. This research supports Duke's Pratt School of Engineering strategic initiative to expand research in soft-wet Materials Science.

Terri L. Young, M.D., M.B.A. is a board-certified clinician-scientist ophthalmologist.  She is a Professor of Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine.  She is a Professor of Neuroscience at the Duke- National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, with adjunct appointments at the Singapore Eye Research Institute and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.  She is the founding Director of the Duke Eye Center Ophthalmic Genetics Program.  She is also the Associate Director of the Duke School of Medicine Clinical and Translational Sciences Award Predoctoral Research TL1 Training Award.

Dr. Young's clinical interests include ophthalmic genetics, pediatric eye disease including pediatric cataracts and retinal disorder, and the surgical correction of strabismus/ eye misalignment in children and adults.  Her laboratory research focuses on the genetic studies of refractive errors, eye development and growth, primary congenital glaucoma, retinal and corneal dystrophies, and other heritable disorders.  Her research program includes the development of animal models in zebrafish and mice for ocular diseases based on our understanding of genetic influences in humans.   

Dr. Young is an editorial board member of Experimental Eye Research, World Journal of Ophthalmology, Journal of Ophthalmology, and past editorial board member of the Journal of the Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.   She has published over 180 scientific refereed articles, and multiple book chapters, reviews and abstracts.  Dr. Young has served as a strategic consultant to the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute.  She has served as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section member for 14 years, and is currently a permanent member of the Diseases and Pathophysiology of the Visual System study section.  She also presently serves as a board member of the NIH NEI Scientific Board of Counselors.  She is the American Association of Ophthalmology Pediatric Ophthalmology Program Committee Chair, and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Program Committee Vice Chair of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section.  She is the Treasurer of Women in Ophthalmology, Inc. 

Dr. Young has garnered several prestigious awards as a Fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, the American Ophthalmological Society, and the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.  She has garnered an Honor Award from the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, and a Senior Honor Award from the American Association of Ophthalmology.  She is an international speaker, with multiple named lectureships.  She has been honored with citations of "Best Doctors in North Carolina", "America's Top Ophthalmologists", and in Becker's Review of "135 Leading Ophthalmolgists in America" for several years.  She has also been featured in the NIH National Library of Medicine "Changing the Face of Medicine" exhibit. (2004)