VSRC Speaker Series

Zhigang He, PhD

 Zhigang He, Ph.D.  
 Professor of Neurology
 Harvard Medical School 
 Rebuilding anatomical and functional connections after CNS injury

 Date: Thursday November 7, 2024
 Location: BRB 105 (In collaboration with Department of Neurosciences
 Time: 12:00 p.m.


Muna Naash, PhD

Muna Naash, Ph.D.  
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of Houston 
Blindness and deafness associated with the c.2299delG mutation is USH2A gene

Date: Tuesday October 8, 2024
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology
Time: 12:00 p.m.


Konstantin Petrukhin, PhD

Konstantin Petrukhin, Ph.D.  
Professor of Ophthalmic Science
Columbia University, New York 
Pharmacological Modulation of the Canonical Visual Cycle in Macular Degeneration Therapy

Date: Tuesday September 24, 2024
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology
Time: 12:00 p.m.


Jillian N. Pearring, Ph.D.

Jillian Pearring, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Michigan
The tectonic complex impedes membrane diffusion through the photoreceptor connecting cilium

Date: Tuesday September 17, 2024
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)  
Time: 12:00 p.m.


Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD

 Rajendra S. Apte, M.D., Ph.D.  
 Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
 Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
 Keynote Speaker at the Annual VSRC Symposium

 Novel Insights into Retinal Inflammation and Neurodegeneration
 Date: Friday May 31, 2024
 Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium


Susan Brockerhoff, PhD

 Susan Brockerhoff, Ph.D.  
 Professor of Biochemistry
 University of Washington 
 Mitochondria and Retinal Disease

 Date: Tuesday April 23, 2024
 Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)
 Time: 12:00 p.m.


Jianhai Du, PhD

 Jianhai Du, Ph.D.  
 Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine
 West Virginia University 
 Metabolic ecosystem in the retina 

 Date: Tuesday October 3, 2023
 Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)
 Time: 12:00 p.m.


Aparna Lakkaraju, PhD

Aparna Lakkaraju, Ph.D. 
Professor of Ophthalmology
University of California, San Francisco 
Towards deeper insight into mechanisms and therapeutics for macular degenerations 

Date: Tuesday September 19, 2023
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)
Time: 12:00 p.m.


Donald J. Zack, MD, PhD

 Donald Zack, M.D., Ph.D.
 Professor of Ophthalmology
 Johns Hopkins University
 Keynote Speaker at the Annual VSRC Symposium

 High Content Screening Approaches to Study Retinal Development and Degeneration
 Date: Friday May 12, 2023
 Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium


Dr. Molday

Robert Molday, Ph.D. 
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The University of British Columbia, Canada 
ABCA4-The ABC Transporter Linked to the Visual Cycle and Stargardt Disease From Structure and Function to Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies 

Date: Tuesday April 18, 2023
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)
                                         Time: 12:00 p.m.


Yiannis Koutalos, PhD

 Yiannis Koutalos, Ph.D. 
 Professor of Ophthalmology
 Medical University of South Carolina 
 Origins of lipofuscin in the retina


 Date: Tuesday November 1, 2022
 Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)
 Time: 12:00 p.m.


Bo Chen, Ph.D.

 Bo Chen, Ph.D.
 Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Anatomy
 University of Texas Medical Branch
 
 CaMKll-mediated neuroprotection and Glia-derived neuroregeneration in vision restoration

 Date: Thursday September 15, 2022
 Location: Robbins E301 (In collaboration with Department of Neurosciences)


Ula Jurkunas, MD

 Ula Jurkunas, M.D.
 Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
 Harvard Medical School
 Keynote Speaker at the Annual VSRC Symposium

 New insights into diagnosis and treatment of Fuchs Dystrophy


 Date: Friday May 20, 2022
 Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium


Sheila Baker, PhD

 Sheila Baker, Ph.D.
 Associate Professor of Biochemistry
 University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
 A not-so silent ion channel in photoreceptor health


 Date: Tuesday March 15, 2022
 Time: 12:00 p.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (In collaboration with Department of Pharmacology)

 


Marie Burns, PhD

Marie Burns, Ph.D.
 Professor of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy
 University of California, Davis
 Monocyte-derived macrophages in the retina: posers or protagonists
 Date: Tuesday March 8, 2022
 Time: 12:00 p.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (Department of Pharmacology)


David Antonetti, PhD

 David Antonetti, Ph.D.
 Scientific Director, Kellogg Eye Center
 Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Molecular & Integrative Physiology 
 Blood-Retinal Barrier Regulation in Diabetic Retinopathy: New Insight and Opportunities
 Date: Wednesday February 16, 2022
 Time: 8:00 a.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (Ophthalmology Grand Rounds)


Dietmar Fischer, Ph.D.

 Dietmar Fischer, Ph.D.
 Chair of Cell Physiology and Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology
 Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
 Promoting axon regeneration in the optic nerve and spinal cord
 Date: Thursday December 2, 2021
 Time: 12:00 p.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (In collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Peter Calvert, Ph.D.

 Peter Calvert, Ph.D.
 Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
 SUNY Upstate Medical University
 Functional compartmentalization of photoreceptor neurons
 Date: Tuesday November 16, 2021
 Time: 12:00 p.m.
 Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Kirill Martemyanov, PhD

 Kirill Martemyanov, Ph.D.
 Professor and Chair of Neuroscience
 The Scripps Research Institute
 Molecular organization of the photoreceptor synapse
 Date: Tuesday April 13, 2021
 Time: 12:00 p.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Sarah Doyle, Ph.D.

 Sarah Doyle, Ph.D.
 Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
 School of Medicine Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
 TLR2 Recognition of Oxidative Stress-Related DAMPs Drives Retinal Degeneration 
 Date: Thursday February 11, 2021
 Time: 11:30 a.m.
 Location: Virtual Meeting (In collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Janet Sparrow PhD

Janet Sparrow, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmic Science, Pathology and Cell Biology
Columbia University
Shedding light on Vitamin A aldehyde-adducts
Date: Tuesday October 6, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Virtual Meeting (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Vladimir Kefalov, PhD

Vladimir Kefalov, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Washington University
Cellular signaling by a single opsin molecule
Date: Tuesday January 21, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia, PhD

Kathleen Boesze-Battaglia, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of Pennsylvania
Relationship between RPE lipid homeostasis and metabolic synergy with the neural retina
Date: Tuesday November 12, 2019
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Xin Duan, PhD

Xin Duan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
University of California San Francisco
Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Visual Circuit Wiring
Date: Thursday October 31, 2019
Time: 12:10 p.m. 
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Carol Mason, PhD

Carol Mason, Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology and Cell, and Neuroscience and Ophthalmic Science
Columbia University
Wiring the Embryonic Eye to the Brain for Binocular Vision
Date: Thursday May 9, 2019
Time: 12:10 p.m. 
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Manuela Bartoli, PhD

Manuela Bartoli, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology
Augusta University
Monosodium urate and epigenetic regulation of sterile inflammation in the diabetic retina
Date: Tuesday April 16, 2019
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium (In Collaboration with the Department of Pathology)


Thomas A. Reh, PhD

Thomas A. Reh, Ph.D.
Professor of Biological Structure
University of Washington
Regeneration of functional neurons in the adult mammalian retina
Date: Tuesday March 26, 2019
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Lois Smith, PhD

Lois Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology
Harvard Medical School
Improving lipid/glucose metabolism in retinopathy:  FGF21
Date: Tuesday December 4, 2018
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium (In Collaboration with the Department of Pathology)


Cheryl Craft, PhD

Cheryl M. Craft, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology & Integrative Anatomical Sciences
University of Southern California
Somewhere over the rainbow…Protecting photoreceptors to maintain high acuity vision
Date: Tuesday November 6, 2018
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Joshua Sanes, PhD

Joshua Sanes, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Harvard University 
Assembling Retinal Circuits: Cell and Synapses
Date: Friday October 26, 2018
Time: 2:00 p.m. 
Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Richard Kramer, PhD

Richard Kramer, Ph.D.
Professor of Neurobiology
University of California, Berkeley 
Re-inventing phototransduction in the blind retina with ion channel photoswitches
Date: Friday May 25, 2018
Time: 12:10 p.m. 
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Andrew Huberman, PhD

Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology
Stanford University  
Brain Circuits Combining Visual Perception with Internal States, to Define Action to Threats
Date: Thursday May 17, 2018
Time: 12:10 p.m. 
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


Catherine Bowes Rickman, Ph.D.

Catherine Bowes Rickman, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology, Eye Research, and Cell Biology
Duke University  
Complement Dysregulation and Complement Immunotherapy in AMD
Date: Tuesday April 24, 2018
Time: 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Wood 331 (In Collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


Michael P. Fautsch, Ph.D.

Michael Fautsch, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Ophthalmology
Mayo Clinic  
Development of a novel therapeutic to treat glaucoma
Date: Wednesday March 21, 2018
Time: 8:00 a.m. 
Location: Rainbow Amphitheater (Grand Rounds)

 


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Barry Willardson, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Brigham Young University
Chaperone-mediated assembly of cell signaling complexes
Date: Tuesday December 5, 2017
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Wood 331 (In Collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)


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Wallace B. Thoreson, Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Nebraska Medical Center
How do photoreceptors sustain synaptic release in darkness
Date: Thursday September 21, 2017
Time: 12:10 p.m.
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


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Lloyd P. Aiello, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Ophthalmology - Keynote Speaker at the Annual VSRC Symposium
Harvard Medical School
Date: Friday June 16, 2017
Location: Wolstein Research Building Auditorium


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Sabine Kastner, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Princeton University
Neural dynamics of the primate attention network
Date: Thursday April 20, 2017
Time: 12:10 p.m.
Location: BRB 105 (In Collaboration with the Department of Neurosciences)


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Vsevolod V. Gurevich, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Structure-based construction of signaling-biased arrestins
Date: Tuesday February 28, 2017
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: Wood 331 (In collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology)