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December 8, 2021
Congratulations – Hanmeng Zhang successfully defends her PhD thesis
In a public seminar Hanmeng Zhang highlighted some of her major research accomplishments before successfully defending his thesis, entitled ‘rAAV-mediates gene therapy treatments for inherited retinal disease in mice and development of the cone dominant Thirteen-lined ground squirrel model’ to a committee consisting of Drs Daniel Lipinski, Joseph Carroll, Iris Kassem and Dana Merriman. We are delighted to announce that Dr Zhang will be taking up a position as post-doctoral researcher at University of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital in the new year.
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August 2, 2021
Publication – OGTL research published in- Translational Vision Science & Technology
In an article published today, Dr. Dwani Patel, currently an M3 Medical Student in the Lipinski Laboratory, described the design and construction of a novel laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) device for pre-clinical use.
Dr. Patel worked alongside optomechanical engineers to develop a LSCI system capable of obtaining rapid, high frame rate images of the mouse retina with extremely high spatial coherence, allowing him to make detailed assessments of vascular function and hemodynamic alterations.
This system is expected to lay the foundation for future studies where we assess changes in vascular function as a biomarker in models of diseases affecting the retina or neurological system, including diabetes, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or Alzheimer’s disease.
Read the full article here.
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June 7, 2021
Publication – OGTL research published in Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development
In an article published today, Hanmeng Zhang, a 5th year graduate student from the Lipinski Laboratory, describes a novel ‘pre-retinal’ surgical approach for the delivery of rAAV vectors to the retina.
In this manuscript, Hanmeng demonstrated in the 13-lined ground squirrel model that delivery of rAAV into the potential ‘pre-retinal’ space located between the posterior hyaloid membrane and the inner limiting membrane significantly increases transduction efficiency whilst requiring a lower overall vector dose.
This injection route provides a new alternative to the more traditional intravitreal delivery approaches used in many pre-clinical studies and may be translatable to human eyes, particularly for the treatment of inherited retinal diseases in younger patients with an intact hyaloid membrane and firm vitreous.
Read the full article here.
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June 4, 2021
Promotion – Dr. Lipinski promoted to Associate Professor
The Rank and Tenure Committee of the Medical College of Wisconsin today approved the promotion of Daniel M. Lipinski, DPhil, director of the Ocular Gene Therapy Laboratory, to Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, effective July 1.
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May 19, 2021
Congratulations – Dwani Patel successfully defends his PhD thesis
In a public seminar Dwani Patel highlighted some of his major research accomplishments before successfully defending his thesis, entitled ‘The development of technologies for early intervention into diabetic retinopathy’ to a committee consisting of Drs. Daniel Lipinski, Joseph Carroll, John Corbett, Thomas Connor and Iris Kassem. We are delighted to announce that Dr. Patel will be re-joining medical school to complete years M3-M4 in addition to remain an active and highly valued member of the OGTL. During Dr. Patel’s protected research time he will work to further his research on the development of methodologies to assess retinal neurovascular function and target gene delivery to retinal blood vessels.
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May 7, 2021
Award – Hanmeng Zhang wins the Members-in-training Outstanding Poster Competition
It was announced at the closing keynote address of the 2021 ARVO annual meeting that Hanmeng Zhang’s poster, entitled ‘rAAV-mediated ASAH1 overexpression prevents retinal anatomical lesions in Farber disease’ has won the ‘Members-in-Training (MIT) Outstanding Poster Award’ for the ‘Retinal Cell Biology (RC) Scientific Section’. In recognition of this fantastic accomplishment, Hanmeng will receive an award certificate and a small monetary prize.
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April 01, 2021
Welcome – Alex Tate joins the OGTL as a graduate student
Alex Tate, a first year graduate student in the Neuroscience Doctoral Program (NDP), has elected to join the Lipinski Laboratory full time to complete his graduate studies. Alex will be working on the development of non-invasive imaging modalities to assess neurovascular health in retinal disease.
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March 31, 2021
Congratulations – Hanmeng Zhang ARVO abstract is selected for the Members-in-training Outstanding Poster Competition
Hanmeng Zhang, a fifth year graduate student in the Ocular Gene Therapy Laboratory, has been selected by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) to participate in the Members-in-Training Outstanding Poster competition, having received one of the top five review scores of any abstract submitted to the Retina (RE) section. Hanmeng’s presentation will describe the therapeutic effects of rAAV-mediated acid ceramidase over-expression for the treatment of Farber disease, a hyper-rare lysosomal storage disorder with fewer than 200 reported cases worldwide.
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February 18, 2021
Congratulations – Kristina Ertel announced as 'Poster Session Winner'
Judges at the Medical College of Wisconsin 30th Annual Graduate School Research Poster Session named Kristina Ertel as one of the ‘Research poster session’ winners for her presentation entitled “Tolerability and effects of an rAAV mediated gene therapy treatment for the treatment of primary open angle glaucoma in brown Norway rats’. In recognition of her achievement, Kristina will receive a monetary award kindly sponsored by the MCW/Marquette Medical Alumni Association.
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February 17, 2021
Congratulations - Hanmeng Zhang announced as 'Poster Session Winner'
Hanmeng Zhang was named as one of the winners of this year’s Medical College of Wisconsin 30th Annual Graduate School Research Poster Session for her presentation entitled “Pre-retinal delivery of recombinant adeno-associated virus vector significantly improves retinal transduction efficiency compared to intravitreal approaches’. In recognition of her achievement, Hanmeng will receive a monetary award kindly sponsored by the Friends of MCW, a volunteer organization dedicated to supporting the ‘charitable, educational, scientific and community service activities of MCW’.
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