Meet the Mustafi Lab

Principal Investigator

Debarshi Mustafi, M.D. Ph.D

Assistant Professor, Dept of Ophthalmology, University of Washington

Member, Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine

Pediatric Vitreo-retinal specialist, Seattle Children's Hospital

B.S. with Honors in Chemistry, University of Chicago, 2007

Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University, 2013

M.D., Case Western Reserve University, 2015

Residency in Ophthalmology, University of Southern California, 2019

Fellowship in Medical and Surgical Vitreo-retinal Diseases, University of Washington, 2021

Board Certification: American Board of Ophthalmology, 2020

Debarshi grew up in Chicago and earned his bachelor’s degree with Honors in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. He then matriculated to Case Western Reserve University as part of the NIH Medical Scientist Training Program to earn his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. Debarshi completed his Ph.D. dissertation work under the tutelage of noted vision scientist, Dr. Krzysztof Palczewski. He was recognized for his dissertation research on the genetic features of the retina in health and disease with a doctoral excellence award. He completed his ophthalmology residency at University of Southern California/LA County. Debarshi was awarded the prestigious Heed Fellowship upon finishing residency and completed his medical and surgical vitreo-retinal fellowship at University of Washington. He then joined the faculty at UW with his clinical practice at Seattle Children’s hospital and his research laboratory at the Karalis Johnson Retina Center. His clinical and research practice focuses on pediatric patients afflicted with blinding diseases, most notably, inherited retinal diseases. He has received a Clinical Scientist Development K08 Award from the National Eye Institute and has been recognized for his work with research awards from the Sinskey Foundation, the Gerber Foundation, the Alcon Research Institute and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Lab Members

Jenna Huey

Research Scientist

Kenji Nakamichi

Research Scientist

Ryan Yanagihara

Ophthalmology Resident

Samuel Kushner-Lenhoff

Ophthalmology Resident

Charlie Sawyer

UW Medical Student

Stefan Stafie

UW Undergraduate

Collaborators

Russell Van Gelder, MD PhD

University of Washington

Deep-sequencing of IRD patients

Jennifer Chao, MD PhD

University of Washington

IRD patient iPSC generation

Andrew Stacey, MD

Seattle Children's Hospital

Genetics of Retinoblastoma

Ramkumar Sabesan, PhD

University of Washington

Retinal imaging of IRD patients

Timothy Cherry, PhD

Seattle Children's Research Institute

Retinal Organoid technology

Danny E. Miller, PhD

UW Genome Sciences

Long-read sequencing technology


Join the Lab

Individuals enthusiastic about joining our team in the role of postdoctoral fellows, graduate, medical and undergraduate students are encouraged to apply.

Specific projects will be based on the interest and expertise of the candidate.