2022 News
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December 16, 2022 Publication – OGTL research published in STAR Protocols Erika Hood, a fourth-year graduate student from the Neuroscience Doctoral Program (NDP), today published a detailed protocol describing the isolation, culture and histological processing of retinal pigment epithelium cells grown as monolayers on porous membrane supports. This ‘drusen in a dish’ model is characterized by the progressive and spontaneous accumulation of sub-RPE deposits containing major protein and lipid components of human drusen, a key pathological hallmark of age-related macular degeneration. The establishment and characterization of Erika's model was performed in collaboration with Dr. Christine Curcio (University of Alabama-Birmingham) and may potentially be used to both study the biogenesis of drusen in AMD and for the evaluation of novel therapeutics. Read the full article here. |
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December 01, 2022 Service – Dr Lipinski is appointed Interim Research Director Dr. Daniel M. Lipinski , Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, was today appointed by Dr Deborah Costakos, R.D. and Linda Peters Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, to serve as the Interim Research Director. In addition to helping promote visual science research across campus, Dr. Lipinski will additionally be leading recruitment of vision science faculty as part of a planned departmental expansion. |
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November 03, 2022 Publication – OGTL research published in Communications Biology In an article published today, Kristina Chern, a sixth-year interdisciplinary program (IDP) graduate student, demonstrated a proof-of-concept that rAAV-mediated de novo biosynthesis of prostaglandin F2alpha within cells of the anterior chamber leads to permanent, dose-dependent decrease in intraocular pressure in brown Norway rat model. Kristina's paper lays the foundations for a potential single-dose gene therapy treatment for open angle glaucoma, one of the most common blinding diseases in patients over 40-years. Read the full article here. |
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August 3, 2022 Welcome - Samiah Ziadeh joins OGTL as a research Technologist |
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August 1, 2022 Congratulations - Gavin Marcoe accepted to Master's program |
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July 28, 2022 Publication - OGTL research published in Gene Therapy Dr. Zhang demonstrated that rAAV-mediated over-expression of acid ceramidase prevented retinopathy in a knock-in mouse model of Farber disease, leading to a reduction in retinal thickening around the optic nerve head associated with lower levels of sphingolipids and ceramides accumulation. This work was performed in collaboration with Dr. Jeffery Medin, MACC Fund Professor, Department of Pediatrics, at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
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June 9, 2022 Congratulations – Kristina Chern receives award at American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) annual meeting |
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May 27, 2022 Grant - National Eye Institute |
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March 2, 2022 Congratulations– Kristina Chern receives travel grant for the upcoming Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting |
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February 21, 2022 Congratulations – Alex Tate passes his qualifying exam |