Yvette Wooff

Dr. Yvette Wooff is a Research Fellow at the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR), Australian National University. She works within the Clear Vision Research Group at the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience. Her research focuses on harnessing extracellular vesicles and microRNA for treating neurodegenerative diseases like retinal degeneration and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Wooff has secured significant funding including a prestigious BrightFocus Fellowship and participated in the JCSMR Gender Equity Fund (2021).

• Academic background: PhD from ANU (2020), BSc (Honours) in biomedical specialisation
• Research themes: Innate immunity, extracellular vesicle biology, microRNA regulation, gene therapy delivery, neuroinflammation, retinal homeostasis
• Key collaborations: National and international partnerships in retinal degenerations, RNA biology, and EV research

Her work explores molecular mechanisms of retinal degeneration and develops EV-based therapies for targeted gene delivery. Wooff has published extensively on topics including caspase-1 inflammasomes, Gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis, and microRNA therapeutic applications.

Scientific Awards:

• BrightFocus Fellowship
• JCSMR Gender Equity Fund (2021)

Wooff leads multiple research projects including Therapeutically-loaded autologous extracellular vesicles for AMD treatment and Therapeutic replenishment of homeostatic microRNA using EVs. She participates in student supervision and collaborates with research groups across immunology, neuroscience, and computational biology.