“I want to become the ‘retina guy’,” laughs Sergio Crespo-Garcia, new assistant professor at the School of Optometry at the Université de Montréal.
Originally from Spain, Sergio Crespo-Garcia has always had a weakness for science. Initially interested in a career in botany or entomology, he nevertheless fell under the spell of biomedicine during his bachelor’s degree in biology.
He then enrolled at the Complutense University of Madrid and undertook a master’s degree in genetics and cell biology, where his marked interest in diseases related to blood vessels took root. He then worked on the development of artificial skin for severe burns using stem cells, a concept that he would apply to diabetic ulcers.
From the skin… to the retina
As diabetes also affects the eyes, Sergio Crespo-Garcia discovers the world of the retina, more specifically that of retinal vascular diseases. It is precisely this subject that he will decide to study during his doctorate in biomedicine at the University Hospital of Charity in Berlin.
“When I read more regarding this tiny organ, I was fascinated to learn how complex it was with its 50 types of cells so well organized. If one of them does not work well, everything falls apart and vision becomes impossible. By meeting several people with blindness due to retinal disorders, I understood how such a small organ might have a huge impact on people’s quality of life. And I wanted to have a therapeutic approach to help them,” he says.
Determined to further his knowledge of the retina and related disorders, he trained at the University of Lincoln, UK, to improve his diagnoses and understanding of blindness.
The health of patients in its sights
It was at a conference in Tokyo that he met the renowned researcher and professor of the Department of Ophthalmology at UdeM Mike Sapieha. The latter invited him to do a postdoctoral internship in his laboratory at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center.
“I was like a child meeting his favorite superhero,” recalls Sergio Crespo-Garcia. In the doctorate, I always read his articles and I admired him enormously. I loved my internship with him!”
In Professor Sapieha’s team, Sergio Crespo-Garcia continues his research on retinal degeneration and diabetes. He is working to better understand the interactions between neurons, blood vessels and immune cells in the retina affected by an eye disease.
The innovative approach of the research team, at the crossroads of molecular biology and biochemistry, is reflected in the publication of numerous articles in renowned journals, such as Science et Cell Metabolism. Mike Sapieha’s laboratory is the first in the world to subject the retina to a senolytic treatment – which allows the selective elimination of senescent cells – which is currently the subject of a clinical trial.
Today, Sergio Crespo-Garcia is very happy not only to be able to collaborate with Mike Sapieha, but also to become his colleague at the University of Montreal. And he intends to continue his efforts to increase his understanding of ocular neurovascular diseases in order to eventually find more treatments for patients.
“At the School of Optometry, it is possible to join basic research and clinical research. In my lab, I will be able to work to better understand how the individual cells that make up the blood vessels of the retina become diseased and how the interactions between these cells are critical to retinal health. By lifting the veil on these mechanisms, we can hope to have real repercussions in people’s lives,” concludes the new assistant professor.