Gabriel Velez, MD, PhD

Resident in Ophthalmology

Bio

Gabriel Velez is a PGY2 ophthalmology resident at Stanford. He received his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Winona State University in 2014. He completed his MD and PhD degrees at the University of Iowa. His PhD research focused on studying the structure of the calpain-5 (CAPN5) protein and its role in the development of Neovascular Inflammatory Vitreoretinopathy (NIV), a rare blinding eye disease. His research interests include translational proteomics, retinal disease, ocular oncology, structural biology, biophysical chemistry, drug design, and bioinformatics.

Current Role at Stanford

Resident Physician

Supervisors

Vinit B. Mahajan, MD, PhD

Honors & Awards

VRSF Research Award, VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation (VRSF) (2023)
Koichi Suzuki Predoctoral Award, The Biology of Calpains in Health and Disease Conference, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) (2019)
X-Ray Methods in Structural Biology Course Attendee, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) (2019)
RapiData 2019 Macromolecular X-Ray Diffraction and Measurement Course, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) (2019)
SRC Travel Award, The Biology of Calpains in Health and Disease Conference, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) (2019)
NEI Recognized Hispanic/Latino Researchers and Eye Care Professionals, National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) (2018)
Trainee Scholar Travel Award, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (2018)
Iowa Graduate Success Fellowship, University of Iowa Graduate College (2017)
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service (NRSA) F30 Award, National Eye Institute (NEI) (2017)
SRC Travel Award, Biology & Chemistry of Vision Conference, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) (2017)
Arthur A. Spector Award in Basic Science Research, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (2014)
Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) Fellowship, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (2014)
Sloan Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2014)
Summa Cum Laude, Bachelor of Science, Winona State University (2014)
Thomas Pietsch Scholarship, Winona State University (2013)
Undergraduate Research & Creative Project Grant, Winona State University (2013)
Mayo Summer Undergraduate Research (SURF) Fellowship, Mayo Clinic Foundation (2012-2013)
Annual Dean's List, Winona State University (2010-2014)
Presidential Honor's Scholarship, Winona State University (2010-2014)

Projects

Structure and Function of Calpain-5 (CAPN5), Stanford University (June 2016 - Present)

The eye is an immune-privileged site that is particularly prone to autoinflammatory uveitis. Most causes of uveitis are unknown, thereby delaying treatment and allowing ocular inflammation to progress unabated. Mutations in the cysteine protease calpain-5 (CAPN5) cause autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy (ADNIV), a rare form of nonsyndromic uveitis. ADNIV patients develop ocular inflammation, retinal degeneration and neovascularization, and intraocular fibrosis starting in the second decade of life, culminating in blindness in their fifties. ADNIV mutations lead to the production of an overactive protease. To date, there are no calpain inhibitors specific to calpain-5 and its structure and function are poorly understood. Determining the structure of calpain-5 is critical to developing precise therapies for ADNIV. The Mahajan lab utilizes a variety of structural, enzymatic, and proteomics techniques to uncover the structure and regulatory mechanisms of this poorly understood molecule. This work is supported by an F30 training grant from the National Eye Institute (1F30EYE027986-01A1)

Location

Palo Alto, CA
Personalized Proteomics of Liquid Biopsies, Stanford University (11/1/2014 - Present)

Proteomics is the culmination of advances in chemistry, physics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology that allow the study of thousands of proteins simultaneously. A proteome can be defined as the complete set of proteins expressed in a particular cell or tissue of interest. This strategy is especially important in eye diseases where there are limited cell and animal models. We are using proteomics to discover biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and molecular pathways involved in several eye diseases where diagnosis is difficult and current treatment is inadequate.

Location

Palo Alto, CA
Computational Structural Modeling, Stanford University (6/1/2015 - Present)

With the rapidly-reducing costs of whole genome and exome sequencing, clinical genomic testing is being increasingly applied in the identification of pathogenic disease variants in patients. New sequence variants are often identified, but many are classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS) due to the lack of functional assays to study their effects. Computational structural modeling of protein structures can provide information at the atomic level and help to predict the pathogenicity of novel mutations by placing variants of uncertain significance in the context of the patient’s disease, pathophysiology, and protein function. Our team collaborates with clinicians and researchers around the world to model novel disease variants and better understand their patients’ disease.

Location

Palo Alto, CA

Professional Education

Residency, Stanford University, Ophthalmology (2026)
Internship, Stanford University, General Surgery (2023)
M.D., University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Medical Scientist Training Program (2022)
Ph.D., University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Molecular Medicine (2020)
B.S., Winona State University, Cell & Molecular Biology (2014)
C.N.A., Normandale Community College, Certified Nursing Assistant Certification (2010)

All Publications

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