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Rebecca L. Pfeiffer, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology

Dr. Rebecca Pfeiffer is a researcher with expertise in electron microscopy-based pathoconnectomics and computational molecular phenotyping. Her research focuses on neuron-glial interactions in the healthy retina and retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

Division

    Education & Training

  • 2017-2023 Postdoctoral Research: Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, PI: Bryan Jones
  • 2017 PhD in Neuroscience: University of Utah, Salt Lake City UT, Advisor: Robert Marc; Dissertation title: Persistent Remodeling and Neurodegeneration in Late-Stage Retinal Degeneration
  • 2010 BS in Biology (summa cum laude), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Representative Publications

Sigulinsky CL, Pfeiffer RL, Jones BW. Retinal Connectomics: A Review. Annu Rev Vis Sci. 2024 Sep;10(1):263-291. doi: 10.1146/annurev-vision-102122-110414. Review. PubMed PMID: 39292552

Pfeiffer RL, Anderson JR, Dahal J, Garcia JC, Yang JH, Sigulinsky CL, Rapp K, Emrich DP, Watt CB, Johnstun HA, Houser AR, Marc RE, Jones BW. A pathoconnectome of early neurodegeneration: Network changes in retinal degeneration. Exp Eye Res. 2020 Oct;199:108196. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2020.108196. Epub 2020 Aug 15. PubMed PMID: 32810483; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7554222

Farzad S, Kosta P, Iseri E, Walston ST, Bouteiller JC, Pfeiffer RL, Sigulinsky CL, Yang JH, Garcia JC, Anderson JR, Jones BW, Lazzi G. Impact of Retinal Degeneration on Response of ON and OFF Cone Bipolar Cells to Electrical Stimulation. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2023;31:2424-2437. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2023.3276431. Epub 2023 May 26. PubMed PMID: 37186528; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10324560

Pfeiffer RL, Jones BW. Retinal Pathoconnectomics: A Window into Neurodegeneration. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2023;1415:297-301. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-27681-1_43. PubMed PMID: 37440048; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11342915

Pfeiffer RL, Jones BW. Current perspective on retinal remodeling: Implications for therapeutics. Front Neuroanat. 2022;16:1099348. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2022.1099348. eCollection 2022. PubMed PMID: 36620193; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9813390

Full list of publications

Research Interests
  • Connectomics
  • Pathoconnectomics
  • Müller Cell connectivity
  • Glial metabolism in healthy and degenerate retina
  • Retinal Remodeling
  • Retinal Degeneration
Research Grants

2024 Research to Prevent Blindness, Career Development Award
2024 Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Career Starter Grant