Jorn Lakowski

Dr. Jorn Lakowski is an Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, actively engaged in retinal development and disease modeling research. He leads a group focused on molecular pathways in photoreceptor and ganglion cell development, utilizing hESC-derived retinal organoids and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to address challenges in basic biology and translational medicine.

• Member of Institute for Life Sciences
• Member of Vision Science Clinical Neurosciences group
• Part of the Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration

His research emphasizes high-throughput assay platforms for drug screening and retinal pathophysiology studies, targeting blinding conditions like cone dystrophy and glaucoma. Recent work explores GNGT2-mediated GPCR signaling in cone development and retinitis pigmentosa modeling using stem cell organoids.

The awarded projects and publications highlight his expertise in retinal cell therapy, gene editing, and biomarker discovery. His 2022-2021 studies focus on microtubule dynamics and cone photoreceptor starvation in retinal diseases, while earlier works (2013-2014) established foundational techniques for photoreceptor transplantation.

• Fight For Sight Early Career Investigator Award (2015)
• Bogue Research Fellowship (2013)

As deputy lead for the Scientific Review module (MMedSci programme), he supervises BMedSci research project students and serves as PhD supervisor. His external roles include invited speaker at international conferences like the ARVO Annual Meeting and UK Eye Genetics Group Meeting.