Philip D. Kiser
Biography
Philip D. Kiser, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is Research Career Scientist at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System and Associate Professor in the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics and Ophthalmology and Vision Science at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, with a joint appointment in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice at the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Kiser received his Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology from Case Western Reserve University, where he studied the structural and biochemical properties of RPE65, the retinoid isomerase of the visual cycle. His research focuses on visual cycle biochemistry and physiology, with particular emphasis on carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases and the development of pharmacological approaches for treating retinal diseases.
Kiser has published over 90 peer-reviewed research articles and reviews, with an h-index of 37 and more than 4,200 citations. His laboratory has deposited 85 protein structures in the Protein Data Bank, reflecting extensive work in structural biology and X-ray crystallography. His research has elucidated the catalytic mechanisms of enzymes involved in visual chromophore production and has contributed to the rational design of visual cycle modulators for therapeutic applications. Kiser holds a patent for visual cycle modulators and has developed licensed research materials, including an anti-RPE65 antibody.
Kiser serves as principal investigator on multiple active grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Eye Institute, National Science Foundation, and Research to Prevent Blindness, totaling over $2 million in annual direct funding. He has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers, and serves on multiple institutional committees including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and Institutional Review Board at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. Kiser is a Fellow of the International Carotenoid Society and received the Pisart Award in Vision Science from Lighthouse Guild in 2021.
Return to topEducation
- Pharm.D., St. Louis College of Pharmacy, 2005
- B.S. in Pharmacy, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, 2004
- Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University, 2010
Distinctions
- Fellow of the International Carotenoid Society, 2023
- Pisart Award in Vision Science, Lighthouse Guild, 2021
- Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, 2003
- Doctoral Excellence Award in Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University, 2010
- Excellence in Research Award, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Pharmacology, 2009
- Graduate Student of the Year, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Pharmacology, 2009
- Merck Award for Highest Rank Collectively in Pharmacology, Pharmacy Practice, Therapeutics, and Medicinal Chemistry, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, 2004
Areas of Expertise
- Visual Cycle Biochemistry
- Retinoid Isomerase Mechanisms
- Carotenoid Cleavage Dioxygenases
- X-Ray Crystallography
- Retinal Pigment Epithelium Physiology
- Pharmacological Modulator Design
- Photoreceptor Chromophore Regeneration
Recent Publications
- Salom, D., Kiser, P.D., Palczewski, K., “Insights into the activation and self-association of Arrestin-1” (opens in new tab), Biochemistry, vol. 64, pp. 364-376, 2025.
- DeWeese, D. E., Everett, M. P., Babicz, J. T., Jr., Daruwalla, A., Solomon, E. I., Kiser, P. D., “Spectroscopy and crystallography define carotenoid oxygenases as a new subclass of mononuclear non-heme Fe(II) enzymes” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 301, pp. 108444, 2025.
- Santos, D., Foglia, L., Kiser, P.D., Yu, A., “The molecular mechanisms of visual chromophore release from cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein” (opens in new tab), Structure, vol. 33, pp. 1436-1445 e1432, 2025.
- Bassetto, M., Hu, Y., Li, B., Chen, X., Saraswat, V., Damacio, F., Smidak, R., Palczewski, K., Tochtrop, G. P., Kiser, P. D., “Rationally designed, short-acting RPE65 inhibitors for visual cycle-associated retinopathies” (opens in new tab), Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 68, pp. 17638-17652, 2025.
- Bassetto, M., Kolesnikov, A. V., Lewandowski, D., Kiser, J. Z., Halabi, M., Einstein, D. E., Choi, E. H., Palczewski, K., Kefalov, V. J., Kiser, P. D., “Dominant role for pigment epithelial CRALBP in supplying visual chromophore to photoreceptors” (opens in new tab), Cell Reports, vol. 43, pp. 114143, 2024.
- Solano, Y. J., Everett, M. P., Dang, K. S., Abueg, J., Kiser, P. D., “Carotenoid cleavage enzymes evolved convergently to generate the visual chromophore” (opens in new tab), Nature Chemical Biology, vol. 20, pp. 779-788, 2024.
- Sander, C. L., Luu, J., Kim, K., Furkert, D., Jang, K., Reichenwallner, J., Kang, M., Lee, H. J., Eger, B. T., Choe, H. W., Fiedler, D., Ernst, O. P., Kim, Y. J., Palczewski, K., Kiser, P. D., “Structural evidence for visual arrestin priming via complexation of phosphoinositols” (opens in new tab), Structure, vol. 30, pp. 263-277 e265, 2022.
- Kolesnikov, A. V., Kiser, P. D., Palczewski, K., Kefalov, V. J., “Function of mammalian M-cones depends on the level of CRALBP in Muller cells” (opens in new tab), Journal of General Physiology, vol. 153, 2021.
- Choi, E. H., Suh, S., Einstein, D. E., Leinonen, H., Dong, Z., Rao, S. R., Fliesler, S. J., Blackshaw, S., Yu, M., Peachey, N. S., Palczewski, K., Kiser, P. D., “An inducible Cre mouse for studying roles of the RPE in retinal physiology and disease” (opens in new tab), JCI Insight, vol. 6, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Kiser, P. D., Golczak, M., Lodowski, D. T., Chance, M. R., Palczewski, K., “Crystal structure of native RPE65, the retinoid isomerase of the visual cycle” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 106, pp. 17325-17330, 2009.
- Kiser, P. D., Zhang, J., Badiee, M., Li, Q., Shi, W., Sui, X., Golczak, M., Tochtrop, G. P., Palczewski, K., “Catalytic mechanism of a retinoid isomerase essential for vertebrate vision” (opens in new tab), Nature Chemical Biology, vol. 11, pp. 409-415, 2015.
- Palczewski, K., Kiser, P. D., “Shedding new light on the generation of the visual chromophore” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 117, pp. 19629-19638, 2020.
- Golczak, M., Kiser, P. D., Sears, A. E., Lodowski, D. T., Blaner, W. S., Palczewski, K., “Structural basis for the acyltransferase activity of lecithin:retinol acyltransferase-like proteins” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 287, pp. 23790-23807, 2012.
- Zhang, J., Kiser, P. D., Badiee, M., Palczewska, G., Dong, Z., Golczak, M., Tochtrop, G. P., Palczewski, K., “Molecular pharmacodynamics of emixustat in protection against retinal degeneration” (opens in new tab), Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 125, pp. 2781-2794, 2015.
- Golczak, M., Kiser, P. D., Lodowski, D. T., Maeda, A., Palczewski, K., “Importance of membrane structural integrity for RPE65 retinoid isomerization activity” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 285, pp. 9667-9682, 2010.
- Sui, X., Golczak, M., Zhang, J., Kleinberg, K. A., von Lintig, J., Palczewski, K., Kiser, P. D., “Utilization of Dioxygen by Carotenoid Cleavage Oxygenases” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 290, pp. 30212-30223, 2015.
- Kiser, P. D., Farquhar, E. R., Shi, W., Sui, X., Chance, M. R., Palczewski, K., “Structure of RPE65 isomerase in a lipidic matrix reveals roles for phospholipids and iron in catalysis” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 109, pp. E2747-2756, 2012.
- Golczak, M., Sears, A. E., Kiser, P. D., Palczewski, K., “LRAT-specific domain facilitates vitamin A metabolism by domain swapping in HRASLS3” (opens in new tab), Nature Chemical Biology, vol. 11, pp. 26-32, 2015.
- Chen, Y., Farquhar, E. R., Chance, M. R., Palczewski, K., Kiser, P. D., “Insights into substrate specificity and metal activation of mammalian tetrahedral aspartyl aminopeptidase” (opens in new tab), Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 287, pp. 13356-13370, 2012.
Contact Information
Website: https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/kiserlab/
Email: pkiser@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-6954
Address: Lab: 2213 Gillespie
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Last updated on 5/19/2026.