Dr. Brian Ballios, Principal Investigator

Dr. Brian Ballios obtained both his Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Toronto in the combined MD/PhD program.  His doctoral work focused on new approaches to the transplantation of stem cells and their progeny for the treatment of retinal degeneration.  With a background in material science and Engineering Chemistry (Queen’s University), Dr. Ballios developed the first injectable hydrogel-based delivery system for transplanting stem cells into the retina.  After completing his FRCSC in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto, he undertook a subspecialty clinical fellowship in Inherited Retinal Disease at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard University.

Dr. Ballios joined the Krembil Research Institute at UHN in 2021, and is also a Clinician-Scientist in the Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute.  He holds appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at the University of Toronto, and is the J. Ardeth Hill – Fighting Blindness Canada Professor in Ocular Genetics.  He holds clinical staff appointments at the UHN and the Kensington Vision and Research Centre (KVRC).  He holds peer-reviewed funding from Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC), and the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) U.S., and has previously been supported by the BrightFocus Foundation, the Retina Foundation of Canada, and the VitreoRetinal Surgery Foundation.