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Dr. Janey Wiggs is a clinician scientist specializing in the genetics of glaucoma with particular interest in complex and advanced glaucoma and inherited ocular disorders. She directs the CLIA-certified clinical diagnostic laboratory where patients are tested for mutations in genes that can cause inherited retinal disorders, early-onset glaucoma or primary optic neuropathy. She also is the Associate Director of the Howe Laboratory and Associate Chief for Clinical Research at Mass. Eye and Ear. Among her leadership roles in Harvard Ophthalmology, she serves as Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Co-Director of the Glaucoma Center of Excellence, and leader of the Genetic Diagnostics Section of the Ocular Genomics Institute.

Dr. Wiggs attended Harvard Medical School (HMS) and completed her residency in the Harvard Ophthalmology Residency Training Program. She then completed fellowships in Glaucoma and Medical Genetics at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Tufts University School of Medicine, respectively. She is board-certified in both Ophthalmology and Medical Genetics.

Using a uniquely collaborative and multidisciplinary approach, Dr. Wiggs aims to identify genetic factors that underlie various forms of glaucoma, including adult-onset primary open angle glaucoma, pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, juvenile open angle glaucoma, and others. Her research, which has been continuously funded by the National Eye Institute for over 20 years, has provided critical information regarding the biology of the disease. Ongoing studies may greatly improve current methods of diagnosis, and lead to more effective and specific therapies.

Selected publications:

Aboobakar IF, Collantes ERA, Hauser MA, Stamer WD, Wiggs JL. Rare protective variants and glaucoma-relevant cell stressors modulate Angiopoietin-like 7 expression. Hum Mol Genet. 2023 Jul 20;32(15):2523-2531

Zeleznik OA, Kang JH, Lasky-Su J, Eliassen AH, Frueh L, Clish CB, Rosner BA, Elze T, Hysi P, Khawaja A, Wiggs JL, Pasquale LR; UK Biobank Eye and Vision Consortium. Plasma metabolite profile for primary open-angle glaucoma in three US cohorts and the UK Biobank. Nat Commun. 2023 May 19;14(1):2860.

Aboobakar IF, Kinzy TG, Zhao Y, Fan B, Pasquale LR, Qassim A, Kolovos A, Schmidt JM, Craig JE, Cooke Bailey JN, Wiggs JL; NEIGHBORHOOD Consortium. Mitochondrial TXNRD2 and ME3 Genetic Risk Scores Are Associated with Specific Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Phenotypes. Ophthalmology. 2023 Jul;130(7):756-763.

Gharahkhani P, … Wiggs JL. Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 127 open-angle glaucoma loci with consistent effect across ancestries. Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 24;12(1):1258.

Bailey JN, … Wiggs JL. Genome-wide association analysis identifies TXNRD2, ATXN2 and FOXC1 as susceptibility loci for primary open-angle glaucoma. Nat Genet. 2016 Feb;48(2):189-94.