Education
MD and PhD-University of California, Irvine
Background
Kimberly Gokoffski, MD PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology in the Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Gokoffski completed her medical and doctoral training in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, Irvine. Her PhD dissertation lead to the characterization of a feedback network that controls neurogenesis and gliogenesis in the mammalian olfactory epithelium. Subsequently, she completed her residency training at the University of California Davis, followed by a clinical and surgical fellowship in Adult and Pediatric Neuro-Ophthalmology. Her clinical practice includes treating patients with optic neuropathies, strabismus, and thyroid eye disease. She also directs a research lab whose focus is to elucidate the molecular signals that guide axon growth and to test whether an applied electrical field can be used to direct the growth of transplanted stem cells. The goal of her research is to develop a technology that can facilitate optic nerve regeneration and restore vision in patients blinded by optic neuropathies including glaucoma, ischemic optic neuropathy, traumatic optic neuropathy, and inherited optic neuropathies.