Peter M.J. Quinn, PhD – PI
Peter M.J. Quinn is a British molecular geneticist, stem cell biologist, and genome engineer. Dr. Quinn is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Principal Investigator of the PrimeSight Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a former Principal Investigator, Associate Research Scientist, and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. During his Postdoctoral Fellowship, he was advised by acclaimed physician-scientist Prof. Stephen H. Tsang and world-renowned genetic ophthalmologist Prof. Irene H. Maumenee. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine at Leiden University, under the mentorship of Prof. Jan Wijnholds. His PhD thesis was entitled “The Retinal Crumbs Complex: From Animal Models and Retinal Organoids to Therapy.” Prior to this, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Manchester and a master’s degree in molecular medicine and cancer research at Brunel University. His master’s research project focused on how PCP genes regulated the polarity of stem cell division in Drosophila melanogaster and was carried out under the supervision of Dr. David Tree. Additionally, he previously worked in the Novel Therapies Division at Epistem Ltd, headed at that time by Dr. Ged Brady and Dr. Jeffrey Moore.
Bruna Lopes da Costa – Postdoctoral Scientist
Bruna is a Brazilian researcher with a PharmD (2015) and a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2018), both earned in Brazil. She recently completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University and joined the PrimeSight Lab. Bruna’s research interests are driven by a passion for translational science, with a focus on developing treatment strategies for inherited retinal diseases. During her Master’s training, she worked on drug delivery systems for ocular therapies. As a PhD student, her work centered on modeling retinal diseases using iPSC-derived retinal organoids and exploring both gene-dependent and gene-independent therapeutic approaches. Bruna’s long-term goal is to apply genome engineering technologies to develop treatments for genetic disorders that cause blindness, ultimately translating research findings into real-world clinical applications. Outside the lab she enjoys spending time with her dog and bird, going on hikes, trying new beers, and sharing good moments with family and friends.
Keith A Theodore – Research Lab Manager
Keith graduated in the spring of 2020 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a major in Biology (Ecology & Environmental Biology Concentration) and minors in Chemistry and Environment, Society and Culture (ESC). Following graduation, he worked at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN as a clinical lab technologist in a newly established COVID-19 lab which required him to become skilled in a number of manual techniques as well as on the PerkinElmer automated testing platform. After gaining a substantial amount of experience in a clinical lab setting, he decided to pursue a career in immunology as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Virginia Shapiro, which focused on hematopoiesis and the immune response in health and disease, primarily through the use of mouse models for autoimmune diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer. In 2022, Keith embarked on a new journey by joining Dr. Quinn’s lab in the department of ophthalmology at Columbia University. Here, he was able to gain extensive experience in many areas of ophthalmic science including mouse colony management, ERG, SLO/OCT, subretinal injections/gene therapy, iPSCs, retinal organoids, prime editing in iPSCs, generating KI/corrected clones, and molecular biology. All of which equipped him with the necessary skills to carry out his current role as a research project manager. Outside of the lab, Kieth enjoys running, playing badminton, baking, volunteering at the children’s hospital, brunch and going to comedy shows.
Saleha Tahir – Research Specialist B
Saleha graduated with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, and her passion for research deepened while working as an undergraduate research assistant. During this time, she focused on the mouse barrel cortex (somatosensory cortex), where the central question was: “How does the sense of touch develop?” This formative experience ignited her love for studying complex underlying mechanisms and propelled her into a career in research, particularly because of its potential to make a significant impact on diseases. Currently, Saleha finds her work in ophthalmology—specifically with Dr. Quinn and the PrimeSight Team—both rewarding and exciting, as it combines a niche field with clinically translatable research. Her work involves establishing, rescuing, and managing knock-in HEK293T cell lines, alongside performing mass therapeutic screens of pegRNA and nicking sgRNA combinations. She is focused on expanding the IRD program and working on dual AAV-mediated prime editing rescue in established iPSC-derived retinal organoid lines. Saleha is committed to succeeding in all circumstances and believes that we should be ashamed to die until we’ve made a significant contribution to humankind. Outside of work, she enjoys continuous growth & learning, reading, and spending quality time with her family and cat.
José Ronaldo Lima de Carvalho Júnior – Research Associate
Ronaldo is a Brazilian ophthalmologist who specializes in ophthalmic genetics. He earned his medical degree from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, in 2011 followed by residency in ophthalmology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. He then completed fellowships in retina, uveitis, and low vision at University of São Paulo. Upon completion of his studies in Brazil, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Tsang at Columbia University, New York, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Later, he also worked under Dr. Janet Sparrow as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist. Over the course of two years, Ronaldo published more than 25 original manuscripts, making important contributions to the inherited retinal dystrophy field. During that time, he also met Dr. Peter Quinn, who became his close friend and collaborator in science. After finishing his training in New York City, Ronaldo returned to Brazil where he started the first clinical service specialized in eye genetics in Northeast Brazil. Since then, he has seen over 300 patients with genetic eye diseases, performing genetic testing, counseling, and visual rehabilitation. Inspired by his patients, Ronaldo moved back to the United States in 2023 to work on cell disease modeling at the National Eye Institute (NEI) under the mentorship of Drs. Bin Guan and Brian Brooks as a Research Scientist. After a successful year at the NEI, Ronaldo joins Dr. Quinn and the Prime Sight Laboratory to continue working on cell disease modeling and gene therapy development. Ronaldo loves nature and spending time with his family. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing tennis and playing the accordion.
Anne Marie Berry – PhD Candidate
Anne Marie completed her bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego in 2022. She spent two years as an intern at a La Jolla based biotech company during her freshman and sophomore years. During her junior year, she transitioned to research and joined Radha Ayyagari’s lab at the Shiley Eye Institute. Here, she studied the genetics of inherited retinal degenerations and joined their team of genetic detectives whose goal was to discover the mutations causing retinal degeneration. After her graduation, she continued in the Ayyagari lab and completed a master’s thesis in which she studied a novel noncoding variant that was causative for retinal disease in several previously unsolved families. Through this work, she became passionate about developing therapies for patients with retinal degenerations. In 2024, she joined the Gene Therapy and Vaccines program at the University of Pennsylvania. She has a keen interest in gene editing and hopes to use prime editing to improve the lives of people affected by these diseases. Outside of the lab, Anne Marie enjoys reading quirky mystery novels, jogging on the Schuylkill River trail, crafting oddly shaped bowls at a local pottery studio, and spending too much money on concert tickets.
Ahmed Abdi – Postdoctoral Scientist
Ahmed is a Swedish-trained Ophthalmologist, having completed a five-year residency program at the Southern Älvsborg Hospital in Borås, Sweden. He chose to join the Quinn lab in March 2026 as a Postdoctoral research scientist to delve into the world of glaucoma genetics. Ahmed had previously worked with the Quinn lab for a three-month period as a Visiting scholar in fall 2025, honing the skillsets he hopes to utilize for the coming two years working on disease modelling and therapy development in normotensive glaucoma. Ahmed had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Quinn at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center during the annual Basic Science Course in Ophthalmology in 2024, at his lecture on “Genome Engineering based therapeutics in Ophthalmology” pertaining to the labs work on inherited retinal diseases (IRDs). This sparked Ahmed’s hopes and aspirations to see whether the same methods could be used to better understand normotensive glaucoma phenotypes and perhaps even find relevant areas for therapy development. When not in the lab, he enjoys spending time discovering the many parts of Philadelphia, volunteering, long walks in nature and around the city.
Andrea Friedman – Research Assistant C
In 2009, Andrea graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s in Broadcast, Telecommunication and Mass Media. During her junior year of college she started working as a teaching assistant at Robert E. Lamberton School in West Philadelphia, where she attended elementary school. After graduating she became a long-term substitute teacher at Lamberton. While teaching, her love of science was reignited, leading her to earning a Post-Bachelor Pre-Medicine Certificate from LaSalle University in 2014. While there she developed a passion for being in the lab and decided to continue her education to do so. Andrea then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Jefferson University in 2019. Andrea completed her thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Lucia R. Languino working on trying to discover a more reliable biomarker for Prostate cancer. She continued her work in Dr. Languino’s laboratory after graduating as a research assistant and lab manager. Andrea then left academia to pursue a career in industry. She worked at Charles River Laboratories in the molecular biology sequencing department. She then moved on to become a contract scientist at The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson. While working as a biologist she realized how much she missed working in an academic setting. Andrea was able to find her way back to academia by joining The Prime Sight Lab in December 2025 as a Research Assistant C. She is looking forward to using her past experiences as a launchpad to help develop therapies to treat retinal degenerative diseases. Outside of the lab, Andrea enjoys spending time with her family, friends and dog, Finn and is always down to go on a random adventure.
Lab Alumni
Joel Imventarza, MD – Postdoctoral Research Scientist and Associate Research Scientist. Currently Research Ophthalmologist at Virscio.
PrimeSight Lab 