Marcel Garita-Hernandez, PharmD, PhD, Receives Career Development Award

Marcela Garita-Hernandez, PharmD, PhD, Instructor in Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, will receive the 2026 Genentech Career Development Award for Emerging Vision Scientists, supported by a grant from Genentech to the ARVO Foundation. The $100,000, two-year award will support her research on advancing therapies for inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs).

Dr. Garita-Hernandez's work has focused on stem cell–based retinal modeling since 2005. She has developed multiple differentiation protocols that have strengthened IRD research. Her recent work combining optogenetics and stem cell therapy has demonstrated the potential to repair degenerated retinas in vivo.

Her funded project will focus on PRPF8-related autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, using next-generation prime editing to correct disease-causing mutations that cannot be addressed with traditional gene replacement. Her team will create human retinal models, test mutation correction using dual-AAV prime editors, and identify biomarkers signaling successful rescue—laying the groundwork for targeted therapies for hard-to-treat retinal diseases.