Valerie Wallace

Dr. Valerie Wallace obtained her PhD in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto (UT) and completed postdoctoral studies in developmental neuroscience at University College london. From 1998-2013 she was at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (University of Ottawa) where she was Senior Scientist and Director of the Vision Research Program. Dr. Wallace joined krembil Research Institute/University Health Network in September 2013, where she is Senior Scientist and Co-Director of the Donald K Johnson Eye Institute and Director of the Vision Science Research Program. She holds appointments in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto. A molecular and developmental biologist by training, she is recognized for her work on the role of Hedgehog signaling in neural progenitor proliferation in the central nervous system. Her lab is now applying this knowledge towards investigating the role of morphogen signaling in tumorigenesis and the development of cell-based approaches for the treatment of blinding eye diseases, including age related macular degeneration.

Recent Publications

Ringuette R, Atkins M, Lagali PS, Bassett EA, Campbell C, Mazerolle C, Mears AJ, Picketts DJ, Wallace VA. 2016. A notch-Gli2 axis sustains hedgehog responsiveness of neural progenitors and Müller glia. Dev Biol. 2016 Mar 1;411(1):85-100. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.01.006.

Smiley S, Nickerson PE, Comanita L, Daftarian N, El-Sehemy A, Tsai EL, Matan-Lithwick S, Yan K, Thurig S, Touahri Y, Dixit R, Aavani T, De Repentigny Y, Baker A, Tsilfidis C, Biernaskie J, Sauvé Y, Schuurmans C, Kothary R, Mears AJ, Wallace VA. Establishment of a cone photoreceptor transplantation platform based on a novel cone-GFP reporter mouse line. Sci Rep. 2016 Apr 22;6:24012. doi: 10.1038/srep24012.

Campbell C, Beug S, Peng J, Mazerolle C, Bassett E, Runguette R, Jama F, Morales C, Wallace VA. 2016. Sortilin is a Negative Regulator of Sonic Hedgehog Processing and Anterograde Trafficking in Neurons. JCS 129(20):3832-3844.

Lagali PS, Medina CF, Zhao BY, Yan K, Baker AN, Coupland SG, Tsilfidis C, Wallace VA, Picketts DJ. Retinal interneuron survival requires non-cell-autonomous Atrx activity. Hum Mol Genet. 2016 Nov 1;25(21):4787-4803. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddw306.

Bassett EA, Tokarew N, Allemano EA, Mazerolle C, Morin K, Mears AJ, McNeill B, Ringuette R, Campbell C, Smiley S, Pokrajac NT, Dubuc AM, Ramaswamy V, Northcott PA, Remke M, Monnier PP, Potter D, Paes K, Kirkpatrick LL, Coker KJ, Rice DS, Perez-Iratxeta C, Taylor MD, Wallace VA. Norrin/Frizzled4 signalling in the preneoplastic niche blocks medulloblastoma initiation. Elife. 2016 Nov 8;5. pii: e16764. doi: 10.7554/eLife.16764.

Ortin-Martinez A, Tsai EL, Nickerson PE, Bergeret M, Lu Y, Smiley S, Comanita L, Wallace VA. A Reinterpretation of Cell Transplantation: GFP Transfer From Donor to Host Photoreceptors. Stem Cells. 2017 Apr;35(4):932-939. doi: 10.1002/stem.2552. Epub 2017 Jan 19.

Appointments

Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences, University of Toronto
Co-Director, DK Johnson Eye Institute, Krembil Research Institute, UHN
DK Johnson Chair for Vision Research, Krembil Research Institute, UHN
Director, Vision Science Research Program, University of Toronto and University Health Network