Current Lab Members

Clemence Bonnet, MD
Assistant Project Scientist

"I graduated my MD in 2014 at Paris Descartes University, Paris, France. After finishing my fellowship in Cochin Hospital, Paris, France, I came to the Stein Eye Institute in 2018 to perform a research fellowship in cornea and anterior segment diseases. My areas of interests are corneal transplants and anterior segment imaging such as optical coherence tomography (AS OCT), and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). I joined Prof. Deng's team in December 2019. I work on the phase one clinical trial studying the safety and feasibility of cultivated autologous limbal stem cells as an innovative therapy for limbal stem cell deficiency. My work is focused on enrolling new patients, collecting the clinical data by performing AS OCT, IVCM and impression cytology, and analyzing them. In the laboratory, my doctoral work is focus on investigating the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in the regulation of the limbal stem/progenitors cells."

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Madison Canter, BS
SRA II

“I graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in May of 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Honors with Distinction. While conducting undergraduate research for over 3 years I focused on the inhibitory effects of Chlamydia psittaci on apoptosis in infected HeLa cells. In June of 2023, I joined Dr. Deng’s lab as a Staff Research Associate II to work on a phase I clinical trial of cultivating autologous limbal stem cells through GDP and GMP guidelines.”

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Sheyla Gonzalez, PhD
Associate Project Scientist

"I received my bachelor's degree in Cell Biology and Genetics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) in 2006. I was then granted with a fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education to study the molecular regulation of the degradation of substrates by the proteasome at the IBMB-CSIC (Spain). In 2007, I was accepted in the Cell Biology PhD program at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain). I spent the first two years investigating the differential potential of mouse embryonic stem cell lines (ESC) established from isolated blastomeres at different embryonic stages. After receiving my Masters' degree in 2008, I continued to investigate deeper into the molecular mechanism of the regulation of stemness in vitro, by studying the effects of E-cadherin signaling in the derivation of mouse ESC lines. Having developed a background in stem cell biology, in 2011, I joined Dr. Sophie Deng's Laboratory. As a Postdoctoral Scholar, I have been investigating the role of Notch signaling in the regulation of human corneal epithelial stem cells (LSCs). In 2016, I transitioned into the role of Project Scientist at the Stein Eye Institute, where I bridge my basic research project with the management of the clinical project about the corneal surface regeneration by using in vitro expanded LSCs."

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John Y. Lee, MD
EyeSTAR Ophthalmology Residency/PhD Program

"I received my bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Cell Biology with a minor focus in Global Health Technologies at Rice University, where my research focused on enhancing efficacy of transplanted hPSC-derived cartilage constructs with pre-transplantation molecular pathway modulation. I then received my M.D. in 2021 from University of Miami where I focused my research in orbital oncology and utilizing bioinformatics software to predict/validate novel therapeutics for thyroid eye disease. Now, I am in the dual ophthalmology residency/PhD program at UCLA (EyeSTAR program) and am currently completing the PhD portion of my training. I am interested in leveraging the unique properties of CSSC-derived extracellular vesicles as a treatment for corneal scarring and engineering their structure to enhance therapeutic function. Outside the lab, I like to surf, play tennis, and golf."

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Leya Weber, MS
Staff Research Associate

“I received my master’s degree in Health Sciences and Technology with a major in Medical Technology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland in 2022. I conducted my master-thesis in a mechanobioengineering lab at UCLA, investigating and phenotyping senescence in mesenchymal stromal cells derived from the bone marrow, using AI image translation. As a staff research associate, I joined Dr. Deng’s lab, where I work on our clinical project about corneal surface regeneration by using in vitro expanded LSCs, in a small-molecule Wnt mimic project to improve human limbal stem cell ex vivo expansion and be responsible for lab maintenance. Outside of the lab, I enjoy running, playing beach volleyball, and hiking.”

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Fayçal Moujane, MD
PhD program

"I graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in 2018 at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium. During my studies, I conducted research on limbal stem cell analysis as well as extracellular vesicle (EVs) production. Subsequently, I completed my ophthalmology residency and passed the International Council of Ophthalmology's specialization examination. I joined Dr. Deng's laboratory in December 2022 to work on the efficacy of EVs derived from corneal stromal stem cells(CSSCs) on corneal scarring. Specifically, I focus on understanding the impact that the environment of CSSCs can have on the efficacy and production of EVs. Outside of work, I am a huge Football (Soccer) fan, and I enjoy using my free time to travel and explore different cultures."

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Saki Sakakura, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher

"I received my M.D. in 2016 and Ph.D. in 2024 at Keio University, Japan. As I was inspired to conduct research to reduce the number of patients undergoing corneal transplantation during the residency of ophthalmology, I started working on drug screening of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), which is the leading cause of corneal transplantation. We investigated cell death pathway of FECD and identified a potential therapeutic approach. As I attempted to develop medical treatment for corneal endothelial dysfunction, I would also like to be engaged in the development of the medical therapy for the corneal epithelial and stromal dysfunction to reduce the patients overall. Therefore, I joined Dr. Deng’s laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher in 2024. My current research focuses on investigating how corneal stromal dysfunction develops and how it can be cured using corneal stromal stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles. Outside the laboratory, I enjoy playing volleyball and piano. "

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