Henry Klassen, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Dr. Henry Klassen completed his internship at The Cambridge Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and residency in ophthalmology at Yale Eye Center. 

He next did a combined fellowship in medical retina and retinal transplantation research at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Institute of Ophthalmology in London.  Prior to joining the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Dr. Klassen was Director of Stem Cell Research at Children's Hospital of Orange County and Senior Scientist at the Singapore Eye Research Institute. Dr. Klassen has outside appointments at the Schepens Eye Research Institute and the Stem Cell Center of the Third Hospital of

Peking University.

Dr. Klassen's long-standing research interests are focused on the application of neural regeneration strategies to diseases of the retina and optic nerve.  Current projects are directed toward neuroprotection, stem cell transplantation, and tissue engineering.  Following encouraging results in rodents, Dr. Klassen and his collaborators have been working in larger animals, notably the pig.  Success in larger animals will support the exploration of clinical applications for these technologies in the setting of diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.

Click here to view publications.

Click here to view Dr. Klassen's current research at UCI.