Dennis Clegg

Dr. Dennis O. Clegg is a Wilcox Family Chair in BioMedicine and Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), affiliated with the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering. He holds an office in Biological Sciences II, Room 5125, and his research focuses on stem cell therapies for ocular diseases, particularly Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), and neural development.

Education & Career: Dr. Clegg earned a BS in Biochemistry from UC Davis and a PhD in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral training at UCSF in neural development and has been at UCSB since 1988. He served as Chair of the MCDB Department from 2004–2009 and co-founded the UCSB Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering.

Research Interests: His lab investigates stem cell differentiation into retinal cells, particularly retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and develops therapies for AMD. Key projects include:

• Stem cell-derived RPE transplantation in animal models
• Engineering biomaterials for cell delivery
• ECM roles in retinal disease (e.g., fibulins, osteopontin)
• Clinical trials of bioengineered RPE implants

Publications & Impact: Over 150 publications span RPE biology, stem cell protocols, and clinical trials. Notable work includes first demonstration of RPE rescuing vision in rats and development of synthetic substrates for RPE growth.

Awards & Leadership: Honors include the UCSB Distinguished Teaching Award and NIH Audacious Goals Award. He advises organizations like CIRM and NIH, and co-leads The California Project to Cure Blindness, a multi-institutional AMD therapy initiative.

Collaborations & Teams: Collaborates with institutions like USC, Caltech, and Regenerative Patch Technologies. Laboratory members include project scientists (e.g., Britney Pennington), postdocs (e.g., Mohamed Faynus), and graduate/undergrad researchers (e.g., Nathan Michellys, James Cho).

Labs & Facilities: Directs UCSB’s stem cell lab, focusing on RPE differentiation, ECM studies, and translational research. Current efforts prioritize clinical translation of RPE implants and cryopreservation protocols.