Dr. Michael Telias is a neurobiologist and electrophysiologist studying retinal and brain physiology in blinding diseases, at the inflection point between homeostatic and maladaptive neuronal plasticity. Dr. Telias began his career in Medical Sciences and Neurobiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and completed his PhD on modeling Fragile X Syndrome using human embryonic stem cells at Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
As a postdoc at the University of California, Berkley, Dr. Telias published seminal studies showing retinoic acid signaling as the trigger behind maladaptive inner retinal remodeling in retinal degeneration, a breakthrough that is already being translated into therapies aimed at improving vision in patients. As an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester, he received the Career Development Award by Research to Prevent Blindness, the Templeton Foundation grant for innovative ideas and an R01 award by the National Eye Institute, among others, to investigate the molecular and physiological mechanisms behind inner retina remodeling and devise strategies to leverage these insights into therapeutic advances.
His work has been published in Journal of Neuroscience, Neuron, Science Advances, and other top-tier scientific journals. He has delivered dozens of seminars and presentations at national and international conferences and teaches visual neuroscience to undergraduate and graduate students.
- 12/2021-03/2026: Assistant Professor, Flaum Eye Institute, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, University of Rochester, NY, USA
- 2019-2021: Research Scientist, Laboratory of Prof. Richard H Kramer, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
- 2015-2019: Post-Doctoral Scholar, Laboratory of Prof. Richard H Kramer, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA
- 2009-2015: Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.) Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University. Supervisor: Prof. Dalit Ben-Yosef, Wolfe PGD-SC Lab, Racine IVF Unit, Sourasky Tel-Aviv Medical Center. Co-supervisor: Prof.
- 2005-2008: Graduate Degree (M.Sc.) Medical Neurobiology, Hadassah Medical School, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Supervisor: Dr. Itzhak Nussinovitch. Thesis: “Modulation of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in Pituitary GH3 Cells by Lipophilic Molecules
- 2001-2005: Bachelor’s in Medical Sciences (B.Sc.Med.) Hadassah Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Education & Training
Joseph D, Grover B, Telias M. Systematic review on biomarker potential of vitreous microRNA in retinal disease. Front Ophthalmol (Lausanne). 2025;5:1671266. doi: 10.3389/fopht.2025.1671266. eCollection 2025. PubMed PMID: 41472886; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12745263.
Savage DE, Tecse A, Zhou J, Germann JA, Buckley MR, Baratta RO, Del Buono BJ, Schlumpf E, Telias M, Marcos S. Second-harmonic generation microscopy of murine scleral remodeling by collagenase and reparative collagen mimetic peptides. Front Med (Lausanne). 2025;12:1514073. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1514073. eCollection 2025. PubMed PMID: 40463974; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12131915.
Abraham AK, Telias M. The role of neurotrophic factors in retinal ganglion cell resiliency. Front Cell Neurosci. 2025;19:1536452. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2025.1536452. eCollection 2025. Review. PubMed PMID: 39944766; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11814206.
Telias M. Neural differentiation protocols: how to choose the correct approach. Neural Regen Res. 2023 Jun;18(6):1273-1274. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.360171. PubMed PMID: 36453410; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9838171.
Telias M, Segal M. Editorial: Pathological hyperactivity and hyperexcitability in the central nervous system. Front Mol Neurosci. 2022;15:955542. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.955542. eCollection 2022. PubMed PMID: 35903171; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9315393.
- Retinal neurophysiology in photoreceptor degeneration
- Homeostatic vs maladaptive plasticity in neural systems
- Development of therapeutic strategies to cure blindness
- R01EY036020, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MA. “Molecular and physiological mechanisms of inner retinal remodeling
- John Templeton Foundation, West Conshohocken, PA. “Do neurons communicate with light”. Co-PI with Dr. Pablo Postigo, PhD
- Career Development Award, Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation. “Molecular mechanisms of pathophysiological inner retinal remodeling in photoreceptor loss”