Mar 6, 2025

Dr. Pierre Mattar: Advancing Our Understanding of Retinal Degeneration and Glaucoma

Once a retinal cell dies, it is lost forever. This is why retinal cell death plays a key role in the main causes of blindness. And this is why Dr. Pierre Mattar’s lab focuses on understanding how neural cell types are produced and maintained.

Dr. Mattar, a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, was awarded a $200,000 Early Career Research Grant from Fighting Blindness Canada. This grant will support his ongoing investigation into the role of immune cells in retinal degeneration, with a focus on glaucoma.

“This award is tremendously important for our research program,” says Dr. Mattar. “It will allow us to continue to investigate how different cell types in the retina contribute to inflammatory processes associated with retinal degeneration, and to determine whether these cells can be harnessed in order to develop new therapeutic strategies.

“Since degenerative disorders, such as glaucoma, are not fully understood, we hope that our work will help to decipher pathological processes that contribute to the progression of these sorts of disorders.”

Dr. Mattar’s laboratory has found that a type of immune cell known as double negative T cells (DNT), may have a specific role in the retina. The project aims to understand the role of DNTs in maintaining retinal health and exploring whether disruptions in these cells contribute to inflammation that accelerates glaucoma progression. By uncovering the mechanisms by which DNTs affect retinal inflammation, Dr. Mattar hopes to open new avenues for therapeutic strategies to slow or prevent vision loss.

Since establishing his laboratory in 2017, Dr. Mattar has made significant contributions to the field of vision research. He holds the Clifford, Gladys, and Lorna J. Wood Chair for Research in Vision and is an Associate Professor in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine Department at the University of Ottawa. His academic journey began with a Master’s degree from Western University in 2003, followed by a PhD from the University of Calgary in 2009. He then pursued postdoctoral training at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal before joining the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

As with other FBC-funded researchers, Dr. Mattar’s cutting-edge research could make a significant contribution to our understanding of blinding eye disease. He and his team aim to bring science closer to developing targeted treatments that can preserve vision for those affected by glaucoma and other degenerative retinal diseases.