Dr. Derek Waldner was born and raised in Southern Alberta, with extensive involvement in competitive athletics. He was subsequently recruited to the University of Lethbridge Men’s Basketball team, where he completed an undergraduate honours degree in Biochemistry during a successful 5-year career as the team’s center and eventual captain. This was recognized by a series of awards including U of L Athlete of the Year (2013), MVP (2013), Hardest Worker (2009 & 2012), Academic All-Canadian (2010-2013), and naming to an All-Canada West team.

Derek begin a PhD with Drs. Bill Stell and Torben Bech-Hansen at the University of Calgary in 2014, studying retinal circuitry and disease. Specifically, his was directed towards development of adeno-associated viral vectors for investigation of retinal circuitry in animal models and pre-clinical work on gene therapy for treatment of congenital stationary night blindness 2A (incomplete CSNB). This work culminated in multiple publications and awards, including several in the LCI Striking Image Microscopy competition (image on the left). Derek subsequently joined the combined PhD/MD “Leaders in Medicine” program at the U of C in 2018, and three years later graduated with both degrees and joined Calgary’s ophthalmology program as a PGY-1 in 2021.