Dr. Brian Ballios: Rooting Research in Patient Priorities

As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Brian Ballios is determined to take his learnings from the lab and bring them to his patients, and to keep his research rooted in what’s important to patients.

He has a lab where he researches stem cell biology in the context of genetic eye conditions. And in his clinical practice he sees patients who have these same conditions. “I try to help my patients find correct diagnoses and navigate a pathway to engage with these new therapies that are emerging in gene therapy and stem cell therapy,” he says

Dr. Ballios also takes his valuable understanding of the patient perspective — including patients’ priorities and concerns — into the laboratory, where they help to inform his research program’s goals. “It’s a life cycle,” he says. “I’m trying to impress upon the next generation of practitioners, whether clinical or lab-based researchers, that it’s important to have a perspective in both fields.”

He is also on a mission to develop stem cell therapies for people living with blindness and has a plan to get there.

Dr. Ballios and other clinician-scientists are essential players in the translation of pre-clinical vision research into clinical trials and ultimately into new sight-saving treatments.

His practice is focused on retinal disease and ocular genomics, and his research seeks to develop the next generation of stem cell-based therapies for retinal disease.

With a PhD in bioengineering and stem cell biology from the University of Toronto, a specialty in ophthalmology, and clinical training in inherited retinal diseases, Dr. Ballios is perfectly positioned to design and test potential new stem cell-based therapies for genetic blinding eye diseases.

“About 15 years ago now, I developed a strong interest in stem cell therapies for blinding eye diseases,” says Dr. Ballios. “My current research is focused on how best to adapt those new stem cell technologies to specific genetic retinal conditions. Stem cell therapy holds a lot of promise. It’s a younger field than gene therapy or drug therapies being developed, but it’s a very promising field. It has the potential to restore and regenerate vision that has been lost.”

Dr. Ballios was the inaugural recipient of the Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC) Clinician-Scientist Emerging Leader (CSEL) award.

“This was a foundational award that allowed me to expand my research,” says Dr. Ballios. “I credit much of my progress over the last few years scientifically to FBC’s support. There aren’t many opportunities for that kind of early-career support in our healthcare research funding system in Canada. FBC created a truly unique program.”