Marquis Walker

Marquis Walker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at James Madison University since 2016. His research focuses on understanding vision loss in retinal degenerative diseases, particularly studying photoreceptor pathophysiology and intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) in mouse models. His work aims to identify molecular pathways underlying photoreceptor cell death to inform potential retinal therapies.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Visual Neuroscience), 2008, University of Maryland Baltimore County
• M.S. in Biology, 1993, Morgan State University

Research Interests: Retinal degeneration mechanisms, neurodegenerative pathways, photoreceptor biology, and translational retinal therapies. His laboratory employs mouse models to investigate dim-light vision deficits, mucolipidosis type IV, and melanopsin photochemistry.

Publications: Recent work includes studies on bone marrow transplantation in mouse models of mucolipidosis and the role of RdgB2 in ipRGC dim-light input. Earlier research explored melanopsin chromophore dynamics.

Lab & Teams: Leads a research lab dedicated to vision science and retinal disease mechanisms, collaborating on projects bridging basic science and clinical applications.