Emma M. Lessieur, MD, PhD

Diabetic Retinopathy, Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms, Early Stages of Disease, Unconventional Therapies, Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Our lab envisions a world where preventable blindness, particularly from diabetic retinopathy, is a thing of the past. Our current research is driven by the passionate pursuit of understanding the early cellular and molecular changes that lead to this devastating disease. By pioneering progressive research and forging interdisciplinary collaborations, our lab aspires to unlock mechanisms that will pave the way for innovative, unconventional therapies to prevent diabetic retinopathy. Every discovery our team makes carries a greater mission: to lessen the global burden of visual impairment due to diabetes and create lasting, transformative change in the lives of millions.

J Vis Exp. 2025 Jan 24:(215). doi: 10.3791/67220. Quantification of Diabetes-induced Adherent Leukocytes in Retinal Vasculature. Emma M Lessieur, Timothy S Kern. PMID: 39927662 DOI: 10.3791/67220

Sathishkumar Chandrakumar, Irene Santiago Tierno, Mahesh Agarwal, Emma M Lessieur, Yunpeng Du, Jie Tang, Jianying Kiser, Xiao Yang, Anthony Rodriguez, Timothy S Kern, Kaustabh Ghosh. Mechanical Regulation of Retinal Vascular Inflammation and Degeneration in Diabetes. Diabetes. 2024 Feb 1; 73(2):280-291

Chandrakumar S, Santiago Tierno I, Agarwal M, Lessieur EM, Du Y, Tang J, Kiser J, Yang X, Kern TS, Ghosh K. “Mechanical regulation of retinal vascular inflammation and degeneration in diabetic retinopathy”. Diabetes 2023 DOI: 10.2337/db23-0584.

Luu JC, Saadane A, Leinonen H, Choi EH, Gao FY, Lewandowski D, Halabi M, Sander CL, Wu A, Wang JM, Singh R, Gao S, Lessieur EM, Dong Z, Palczewska G, Mullins RF, Peachey NS, Kiser PD, Tabaka M, Kern TS, Palczewski K. “Stress resilience-enhancing drugs preserve tissue structure and function in degenerating retina via phosphodiesterase inhibition”. PNAS 2023 doi: 10.1073/pnas.2221045120

Saadane, A, Veenstra A, Minns M, Tang J, Du Y, Elghazali FA, Lessieur EM, Pearlman E, Kern TS. “CCR2-positive monocytes contribute to the pathogenesis of early diabetic retinopathy in mice”. Diabetologia 2023 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05860-w

Lessieur EM, Liu H, Saadane A, Du Y, Kiser J, Kern TS. “ICAM-1 on the luminal surface of endothelial cells is induced to a greater extent in mouse retina than in other tissues in diabetes”. Diabetologia 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05719-0

Cruz MA, Bohinc D, Andraska EA, Alvikas J, Raghunathan S, Masters NA, van Kleef ND, Bane KL, Hart K, Medrow K, Sun M, Liu H, Haldeman S, Banerjee A, Lessieur EM, Hageman K, Gandhi A, de la Fuente M, Nieman MT, Kern TS, Maas C, de Maat S, Neeves KB, Neal MD, Gupta AS, Stavrou EX “Nanomedicine Targeting to Activated Neutrophils and Neutrophil-Platelet Complexes Using an 2 α₁- antitrypsin-derived Peptide Motif”. Nature Nanotechnology 2022 DOI:10.1038/s41565-022-0116

Lessieur EM, Liu H, Saadane A, Du Y, Tang J, Kiser J, Kern TS. “Neutrophil-derived proteases contribute to the pathogenesis of early diabetic retinopathy”. IOVS 2021 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.62.13.7.

Lessieur EM, Song P, Nivar GC, Piccillo EM, Fogerty J, Rozic R, Perkins BD. “Ciliary genes arl13b, ahi1 and cc2d2a differentially modify expression of visual acuity phenotypes but do not enhance retinal degeneration due to mutation of cep290 in zebrafish”. PLoS One 2019 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213960

Lessieur EM, Fogerty J, Gaivin RJ, Song P, Perkins BD. “The Ciliopathy Gene ahi1 Is Required for Zebrafish Cone Photoreceptor Outer Segment Morphogenesis and Survival.” IOVS 2017 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.16-20326

2024 Tom Angell Fellowship Award (Postdoctoral scholar)
To postdoctoral scholars contributing to student wellness and retention by mentorship, Graduate Division, University of California, Irvine
2023 Career Transition Award (K99/R00)
To support exceptional postdoctoral researchers transitioning to a role as an independent scientist. National Eye Institute
2023 Outstanding Fellow/Resident Research Award (Basic science) School of Medicine Annual Research Awards – Honorable mention, University of California, Irvine
2023 The Retina Research Foundation – Joseph M. and Eula C. Lawrence Travel Grant, To attend the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2023
2023 Vision Research Scholarship for ARVO 2023, Travel Award
Center for Translational Vision Research and The Woman in Vision Research Committee, School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Irvine
2016 Biennial International Symposium on Ocular Regeneration, Travel Award, Harvard Medical School, Department of Ophthalmology