Jeffrey Harder, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Researching axon degeneration and the roles of immunity in the central nervous system and diet in glaucoma.

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About Jeffrey Harder, Ph.D.

I joined the Simon John lab in the spring of 2013, excited by the opportunity of working with Dr. John and using a multidisciplinary approach in my research. Using DBA/2J mice as a model of glaucoma, my current research focuses on axon degeneration, the role of innate immunity in the central nervous system, and the role of diet in neurodegeneration. This includes studying the role of JNKs in glaucomatous injury and working to identify early signaling events that may initiate injury. For another project, I am collaborating with faculty from Dalhousie University, working on defining human genes responsible for exfoliation syndrome glaucoma. I also work closely with fellow postdoc Pete Williams and help direct two research assistants in the lab. This opportunity to collaborate and manage while working through complex projects is broadening my conceptual thinking abilities both scientifically and managerially, and improving the array of skill sets necessary for running a lab.

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Grants, honors and accomplishments

2014 The Barbara and Joseph Cohen Endowmen

2013 Immunology Training Fellowship, The Jackson Laboratory

2011 National Eye Institute Travel Grant, ARVO

2011 Pathology Research Day Poster Award, University of Rochester Medical School.

2008 Vision Training Fellowship, University of Rochester.

2007 Pathology Graduate Program Award, University of Rochester Medical School.

2001 Awarded Scholars Medal by Schreyers Honor College, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Research HighlightDecember 11, 2018
The unexpected advantages of outbred mice in research
Recently developed outbred mouse populations, such as the diversity outbred (DO) mice at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), have created research options that parallel or even exceed human genetic diversity. Research with DO mice offers a full range of genetic diversity, and therefore more generalizability of responses across populations.
Research HighlightNovember 08, 2018
Working with uncertainty in cell populations
JAX researchers have developed a new computational algorithm that is capable of modeling the effects of both stochastic gene expression and cell-to-cell variability in a cell population.
Search MagazineOctober 09, 2018
Of mighty mice and men
Pioneering scientist Se-Jin Lee, a leader in the study of muscle development, moves his groundbreaking research program to JAX.
Press ReleaseOctober 02, 2018
Addiction: The microbiome link
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has made a $4M grant to JAX scientists to explore the roles of the microbiome and genetics in substance use disorders.

Blog PostDecember 11, 2018
Nesting dolls and Narnia
If movies were true to real life, matryoshka dolls would provide a good analogy for genomics research.
Tech CornerOctober 11, 2018
Precision medicine and making sense of data
JAX professor calls for concerted effort to align data across patients and systems with comparable and consistent formats and contextual meaning.
Press ReleaseOctober 09, 2018
Advancing therapeutic gene editing
NIH awards $3.5M to JAX under multi-institution Somatic Cell Genome Editing program.
Research HighlightSeptember 11, 2018
Exploring zinc finger proteins
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded Petko Petkov a four-year grant totaling $1,385,337 to exploit the new methods he has developed to profile and investigate zinc finger proteins and their binding sites.