Meet Our Team
Sun Young Lee
M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Physiology & Neuroscience with Tenure
Principle Investigator
MD Pusan National University, S. Korea
PhD University of Ulsan, S. Korea
Intern/Ophthalmology Resident/Surgical Retina Fellowship Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, S. Korea
Post doctoral Johns Hopkins University, USA
Intern/Ophthalmology Resident University of Southern California, USA
Surgical Retina Fellowship University of Iowa, USA
Leimeng received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in 2025. He started his postdoctoral research position in Dr. Lee’s lab in Feb 2026.
Taimu received his medical degree from Tohoku University, Japan, in 2015 and his Ph.D. in Ophthalmology from Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in 2024. He worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Tohoku University Hospital until March 2026. In May 2026, he joined Dr. Lee’s lab at the University of Southern California as a Visiting Scholar.
Tongzhou Xu
Ph.D.
Research Associate
Tongzhou received his medical degree from Zhejiang University in 2010 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2017. He continued working at UCLA and the University of British Columbia as a postdoctoral fellow and then faculty-research associate. He joined USC as a research associate in 2025.
Susan Kishi
M.D. Candidate
Medical Student Research Assistant
​Susan is a second-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Musical Studies of the French horn from USC. She is working towards a career in ophthalmology.
Justin Leung
B.S.
Research Assistant
Justin recently graduated from the University of Southern California with a major in Neuroscience and a minor in Health Care Studies. He is on a pre-medical track and is interested in pursuing ophthalmology in the future.
Miso is a first-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She received her B.S. in Psychobiology from UCLA. She is interested in pursuing a career in ophthalmology.
Katelyn is a current student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Musical Studies. She is on a pre-medical track and hopes to pursue ophthalmology in the future.
Lab Alumni
John Surbeck
Medical Student
Project: Increased Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein and Vimentin in Vitreous Fluid as a Biomarker for Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy
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Austin LaGrow
Medical Student
Project: Endophthalmitis After Transconjunctival Pars Plana Vitrectomy: A 6-year Experience Without Prophylactic Intraoperative Subconjunctival Antibiotics
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Cynthia McClard
Ophthalmology Resident
Project: Utility of No-Charge Panel Genetic Testing for Inherited Retinal Diseases in a Real-World Clinical Setting
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Arjun Nanda
Medical Student
Project: Fiji-Assisted Automatic Quantitative Volumetric Analysis of Choroidal Neovascularization in a Laser-Induced Choroidal Neovascularization Mouse Model
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Gopa Kumar Gopinadhan Nair
Research Associate
Projects: Proteomic Insight into the Role of Exosomes in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy Development, Intraocular RGD-Engineered Exosomes and Active Targeting of Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV), and more
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Dimitri Pollais
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Projects: Dynamics of microRNA secreted via extracellular vesicles during the maturation of embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium, Scaling up polarized RPE cell supernatant production on parylene membrane, and more
Mahrou Sadri
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Clarisa Marie Bloemhof
Medical Student
Project: Dynamics of microRNA secreted via extracellular vesicles during the maturation of embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium
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Amy Li
Undergraduate Student
Our Collaborators
In order to successfully carry out our experiments and analysis, we partner with various laboratories in colleges and institutions across the United States.
Funding
Our research would not be possible without our grants and donors. We greatly appreciate their support in allowing us to further the field of retinal ophthalmology.
National Eye Institute
Alcon Research Institute