Penn Veterinary Medicine | University of Pennsylvania

Description of Research Expertise

Barbara Zangerl, DVM, PhD. Barbara Zangerl is a Research Assistant Professor of Medical Genetics in Ophthalmology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She earned her veterinary, and doctoral degrees at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria, and combined her academic interests by accepting a position as Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the J.A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, Cornell University in 2000. After two years of studying retinal degeneration in the canine models, Dr. Zangerl was promoted to a research associate and started to develop independent research strategies and resources for the identification of molecular mechanisms causing those disorders. These studies were continued and extended after moving to the University of Pennsylvania on her current position in 2004. Dr. Zangerl’s work has been supported by the Laura J. Niles Foundation, the University Research Foundation and the Foundation Fighting Blindness, next to contributing to projects supported by the National institutes of Health and the Morris Animal Foundation, and the Seeing Eye, Inc. as project scientist. As a research only appointment, Dr. Zangerl dedicates her time to the evaluation of new diseases, investigation underlying genetic causes and development of potential therapies. As a part of this, she supervises and trains students and postdocs to raise a new generation of scientists for this rewarding field.

Research Interests
The combination in training as a veterinarian and geneticist has focused Dr. Zangerl’s particular interest on the integration of molecular approaches in addressing inherited diseases in animals. The particular advantages of eye diseases in the dog, which now serve as suitable model for human disease, provide an excellent model system to develop and understand principles of disease mechanism and potential for therapy. These strategies are currently employed on the genetics/genomics level with a particular focus on models derived from mutations in the VMD2 gene, causing Best disease in humans, and the identification of new models. In parallel, Dr. Zangerl applies continuously updates approaches to identify potential gene interactions and disease modifiers on known models, such as prcd to understand and alter progression of blinding disorders. Advancements in these areas will serve both, our pet population as well as humans affected by comparable blindness.

Description of Clinical Expertise

Dr. Zangerl has spent the last four years mostly volunteering her spare time to the Philadelphia Animal Control and Care Facility. During this time she has accumulated a basic understanding of shelter medicine, and particularly refined and excelled in spay and neuter techniques as means of population control.

Selected Publications

B.Zangerl, S.J. Lindauer, S.E. Pearce-Kelling, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: CFA9 association study to identify potential modifier loci for progressive rod-cone degeneration (prcd) in the dog. ISAG Meeting, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Poster and platform presentation. July 2008.

B. Zangerl, K.E.Guziewicz, A.M. Komaromy, S.J. Lindauer, J.J. Alexander, L.G. Glushakova, W.W. Hauswirth, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Human bestrophin promoter drives RPE-specific GFP expression in the canine retina. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA April - May 2008.

K.E. Guziewicz, B. Zangerl, S.J. Lindauer, R.F. Mullins, L.S. Sandmeyer, G.H. Grahn, E.M. Stone, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Bestrophin gene mutations cause canine multifocal retinopathy. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA May 2007.

G.L. Paez, B. Zangerl, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Photoreceptor degeneration and tumor suppressor gene expression in canine retinas with RPGR frameshilft mutation. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida May 2007.

B. Zangerl, K.E.Guziewicz, G.L. Paez, S.J. Lindauer, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Identification of molecular pathways leading to the prcd phenotype using cDNA expression profiling. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA May 2007.

Guziewicz, K. E., Zangerl, B., Lindauer, S. J., Mullins, R. F., Sandmeyer, L. S., Grahn, B. H., Stone, E. M., Acland, G. M., Aguirre, G. D.: Bestrophin gene mutations cause canine multifocal retinopathy: a novel animal model for best disease Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48(5): 1959-67, 2007.

Zangerl, B., Johnson, J. L., Acland, G. M., Aguirre, G. D.: Independent origin and restricted distribution of RPGR deletions causing XLPRA J Hered 98(5): 526-30, 2007.

B. Zangerl, K.E. Guziewicz, S.J.P. Lindauer, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Comparative genomics supports significance of mutations in two models for inherited eye disease, VMD2 and PRCD. 11th International Congress of Human Genetics, Brisbane, Australia August 2006.

B.Zangerl, O.Goldstein, S.J. P. Lindauer, S.E. Pearce-Kelling, A.R. Philp, A.Antosh, J.S. Felix, E.M. Stone, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Novel retinal gene (PRCD) causes progressive rod-cone degeneration in canines and humans. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, (platform presentation). April - May 2006.

O.Goldstein, S.E. Pearce-Kelling, B.Zangerl, G.M. Acland, G.D. Aguirre: Differentiating prcd and non-prcd forms of canine adult onset autosomal recessive hereditary retinal degenerations. IOVS Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA April - May 2006.