Spotlight on the Kubai Lab

Dr. Melissa Kubai, MS, DACVO
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Research Area
Dr. Melissa Kubai’s research activities focus on treatment of infectious keratitis, specifically novel adjunctive therapies to minimize the need for topical antibiotics. Her research on UV-C light therapy is the first research in veterinary medicine to report the effectiveness against common microbes that affect companion animals.

She also has a focus on topical blood products used commonly as an anti-melting agent in infected corneal ulcers and the effects of these blood products on antimicrobial efficacy.

Origins
Dr. Kubai first became involved with ophthalmology research as an undergraduate and then DVM student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Infectious keratitis is one of the most common diseases seen in companion animals and Kubai has sought to find better ways of treating patients to minimize scar tissue formation and/or loss of an eye.

Funding

$5,000 grant from the Vision for Animals Foundation investigating the novel treatment of infectious keratitis in canine corneas using Ultraviolet C (UV-C) light
$20,000 seed grant from the College of Veterinary Medicine to investigate novel treatment of infectious keratitis in bovine corneas using Ultraviolet C (UV-C) light
$5,036 grant from SeroRepair, LLC to investigate the impact of SeroRepair (frozen bovine serum) on antimicrobial efficacy for the most common corneal pathogens

Publications

“Sustained Tear Film Exposure after Parenteral Cefovecin Administration in Dogs: Pharmacokinetics and Relevance to Canine Bacterial Keratitis,” Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2026
“Ultraviolet C (UV-C) Light Therapy Inhibits Pathogens Associated with Equine Keratomycosis at Different Corneal Depths – an ex vivo Study,” Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2026
“Antimicrobial Activity of Ultraviolet C (UV-C) Light as a Potential Novel Treatment for Moraxella bovis (M. bovis) Infection – an in vitro Study, Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2026
“Topical Blood Products Modulate the Effect of Ophthalmic Antibiotics against Common Bacterial Pathogens in Dogs with Infectious Keratitis,” Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2025

Results

Kubai’s research has shown there is a significant reduction in bacterial and fungal organisms post UV-C light therapy. “This is a promising adjunctive therapy for treatment of infectious keratitis in companion animals,” she says. “We have performed ex vivo safety studies in dogs, horses and bovine that have shown that this treatment appears to be safe with minimal deleterious effects to the eye.” The next phase of this research will be to perform in vivo studies in dogs, horses and cattle to make sure there are no acute clinical side effects. “This adjunctive therapy could be a game changer on how we can more effectively treat corneal infections, specifically by speeding up the resolution of the infection thus improving healing times and with less scarring.”
In her blood product research, Dr. Kubai has learned that blood products contain properties that result in direct antimicrobial effects and that the albumin in blood products can bind to free antimicrobials rendering them less effective.

Research Benefits
“Our UV-C therapy research indicates that there is a reduced need for high frequency of topical antimicrobials and a more rapid resolution of the corneal infection,” Dr. Kubai said. “This should lead to a more rapid resolution of the corneal infection along with improved visual outcome for patients.”

Research Team
Dr. Melissa Kubai
Collaborators: Drs. Dipak Sahoo, Lisa Uhl, Olufemi Fasina, Bactelius Turicea (past ISU resident)
Residents: Drs. Mona Hoerdemann, Sonja Ing and Jordan Gerras

September 2026