Daniel Hass, PhD

Daniel Hass is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington. He is broadly focused on understanding how mitochondria are altered by eye disease, and whether preserving or changing mitochondrial function can maintain the eye. As a PhD student with Colin Barnstable (Penn State University), this manifested as an exploration into the role of a mitochondrial uncoupling protein, UCP2, in glaucoma. Daniel's postdoctoral studies now focus on the interaction between fatty acids and age-related macular degeneration. He is motivated to determine whether mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation can control lipid levels in the eye. This questions is particularly relevant because lipids are a major component of drusen, a major risk factor for macular degeneration.