Dr Yvette Wooff

PhD
Research Fellow

I am a Level A4 Academic postdoctoral research fellow in the Clear Vision Research group at the Australian National University’s Eccles Institute of Neuroscience - John Curtin School of Medical Research.

Since graduating from ANU with a PhD in 2020 and commencing my postdoctoral appointment, I have established national and international collaborations with prominent researchers in the fields of retinal degenerations, extracellular vesicles, and RNA biology, and been successful in acquiring both small and large research funding for my work investigating extracellular vesicles in the healthy and degenerating retina, including a prestigious BrightFocus Fellowship.

My research focus for the future is to harness and deliver the molecular message of health transported within extracellular vesicles as personalised and targeted gene therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease including retinal degenerations.

Outside of work I am a mother to 3 young children, aged 8, 6 and 1.5. I am originally from Auckland NZ. 

Research interests

I have strong research interests in the fields of innate immunity, microRNA and the role and therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles in the retina.

  1. J.A. Chu-Tan, Z.-P. Feng, Y. Wooff, A.V. Cioanca, U. Schumann, R. Aggio-Bruce, H.R. Patel, M. Rutar, K. Hannan, K. Panov, J. Provis, and R. Natoli, Functional microRNA targetome undergoes degeneration-induced shift in the retina. (Accepted; Molecular Neurodegeneration), 2021. 
  2. R. Aggio-Bruce, J.A. Chu-Tan, Y. Wooff, A.V. Cioanca, U. Schumann and R. Natoli, Inhibition of microRNA-155 protects retinal function through attenuation of inflammation in retinal degeneration. Molecular Neurobiology. 2020. 1-20 
  3. Y. Wooff, A.V. Cioanca, J.A. Chu-Tan, R. Aggio-Bruce, U. Schumann, and R. Natoli, Small-medium extracellular vesicles and their miRNA cargo in retinal health and degeneration: mediators of homeostasis, and vehicles for targeted gene therapy. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2020. 14, 160. 
  4. X. Xiao, Y. Tang, Y. Wooff, C. Su, M. Kang, S,J. O'Carroll, Q. Chen, & L. Chamley, (2020). Upregulation of pannexin-1 hemichannels explains the apparent death of the syncytiotrophoblast during human placental explant culture. Placenta, 2020. 94, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2020.03.003 
  5. Y. Wooff, N. Fernando, J.H. Wong, C. Dietrich, R. Aggio-Bruce, J.A. Chu-Tan, A.A. Robertson, S.L. Doyle, S.M. Man, and R. Natoli, Caspase-1-dependent inflammasomes mediate photoreceptor cell death in photo-oxidative damage-induced retinal degeneration. Scientific reports, 2020. 10, 1-20. 
  6. N. Fernando, J.H.C. Wong, S. Das, C. Dietrich, R. Aggio-Bruce, A.V. Cioanca, Y. Wooff, J.A. Chu-Tan, U. Schumann, C. Ngo, R.W. Essex, C. Dorian, S.A. Robertson, S.M. Man, J. Provis, and R. Natoli, MicroRNA-223 Regulates Retinal Function and Inflammation in the Healthy and Degenerating Retina. Frontiers in Cell and Development Biology, 2020.  DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00516. 
  7. Y. Wooff, S.M. Man, R. Natoli, R. Aggio-Bruce, and N. Fernando, IL-1 Family members mediate cell death, inflammation and angiogenesis in retinal degenerative diseases. Frontiers in immunology, 2019. 10, 1618. 
  8. J.A. Chu-Tan, M. Rutar, K. Saxena, R. Aggio-Bruce, R.W. Essex, K. Valter, Y. Wooff, J. Provis and R. Natoli. MicroRNA-124 Dysregulation is Associated with Retinal Inflammation and Photoreceptor Death in the Degenerating Retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2018. 59(10), 4094-4105. 
  9. *N. Fernando, *Y. Wooff, R. Aggio-Bruce, J.A. Chu-Tan, H. Jiao, C. Dietrich, M. Rutar, M. Rooke, D. Menon, J.T. Eells, K. Valter, P.G. Board, J. Provis, and R. Natoli, Photoreceptor Survival Is Regulated by GSTO1-1 in the Degenerating Retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2018. 59, 4362-4374 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.18-24627. 
  10. N. Fernando, R. Natoli, T. Racic, Y. Wooff, J. Provis, and K. Valter, The use of the vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) in the rat retina. PLoS One, 2018. 13, e0193740 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193740.