UW Eye Research Institute
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Sight and Insight
Spring 2008 (PDF)
Posters and materials from the conference illustrate the ways in which artistic images can evoke science concepts.
The emerging transdisciplinary field of Visual Culture connects the study and practice of all that is visual across the sciences, humanities, social sciences and arts. Its objects of study and materials of practice include not merely images, visual objects, imaging technologies and devices of visual representation but also the ways of seeing, valuing and interpreting the visual. The field’s methodologies are, therefore, diverse and hybrid, including the empirical, practical, creative and theoretical.
“Is seeing physiological or cultural?” This was one of the first questions that Jill Casid, associate professor of Visual Culture Studies and director of the UW Visual Culture Center, asked during the planning of the recent “Visualizing Science” conference. The question represented a starting point for a dialogue between those who study vision from the seemingly disparate viewpoints of science and the humanities.(Next)
Is the Hand Quicker Than the Eye?
Winter 2008 (PDF)
A test subject demonstrates the importance of early visual information when attempting to grasp an object in a virtual environment.
Anyone who has played a video game has had the experience of using hand-eye coordination to guide actions happening in a virtual environment displayed on the computer screen. What can virtual environments such as these teach us about how sensory information – like sight and touch – influence our actions, reactions, and movements?
“We are constantly bombarded with sensory information such as visual and haptic (touch) feedback in our daily lives,” says Andrea Mason, PhD, assistant professor of Kinesiology and member of the UW Eye Research Institute. “We use this information when we reach out and grasp objects, when we coordinate movements with another person – like passing an object – or when we use our two hands to catch a ball.” (Next)
Coming Full Circle
Fall 2007 (PDF)
During his sophomore year in high school, Daniel Albert’s father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and was treated at New York’s Memorial Hospital (now part of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center). Albert, who found the cancer wards to be places filled with people in great pain, resolved that he would someday contribute to alleviating the sort of suffering he witnessed. (Next)
When Old Friends Get Together
Summer 2007 (PDF)
Alice McPherson, MD, shares a moment with Daniel Albert, MD.
When old friends get together, it is usually a time for renewing acquaintances, exchanging stories, meeting new members of the family, and reminiscing about good times. The activities and events throughout the June 8-10, 2007 visit of friends and board members of the Retina Research Foundation (RRF) in Houston, TX to the UW Eye Research Institute (ERI) fostered this same spirit. Hosted by Alice R. McPherson, MD, President and founder of the RRF and a UW alumna, the weekend provided many opportunities for education, discussion, and enjoyment. ...(Next)
Leading with Vision
Spring 2007 (PDF)
Today’s scientific discoveries are increasingly made through partnerships between an assortment of scientists and scholars. Enhancing the interplay between different disciplines broadens the base of scientific knowledge and fosters new and innovative ways of thinking.
“Building connections between these scientists and scholars requires an organizational structure focused on interdisciplinary relationships,” says Daniel Albert, Director of the UW Eye Research Institute (ERI) and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “The ERI is one of the newest institutes on campus, and its members are committed to expanding opportunities for vision science research and education across campus.”...(Next)
Nurturing Researchers and Retinas
Winter 2007 (PDF)
If your father kept a collection of animal brains in jars in the barn when you were a kid, you’d probably grow up with either an interest in or an aversion to such things. For David Gamm, assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and member of the UW Eye Research Institute, his school psychologist father’s passion for both the inner workings of the mind and its physical structure instilled David with a curiosity about the nervous system. Gamm’s mother, a nurse, also encouraged an interest in medicine. “I think I managed to blend both parental influences,” laughs Gamm, who studied cellular and molecular biology...(Next)
Curiosity as a Career
Fall 2006 (PDF)
Children often want to be doctors or firemen when they grow up. But as a young student in Japan, Akihiro Ikeda spent his free time reading biographies of famous physicists and other scientists. “I pictured the researchers sitting in a room alone, reading and learning wonderful things. There was something very intriguing to me about their curiosity and dedication.
Like those physicists, Ikeda liked to ask “Why?” “My parents never gave me a direct answer,” Ikeda laughs. “They encouraged me to find answers for myself.”
Ikeda, now an assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and member of the Eye Research Institute, set out to find answers...(Next)
Raising Scientists
Summer 2006 (PDF)
Graduate student Dhruv Sareen and Arthur Polans, PhD, plan an experiment.
Just as a fledgling develops feathers and learns to fly, students can try their wings at becoming independent researchers through educational experiences afforded through laboratories. “The laboratory is about providing opportunities,” says Arthur S. Polans, PhD, professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Associate Director of the UW Eye Research Institute. “My goal as an educator is to build scientific independence,” continues Polans. “I structure my lab as a place for students at every educational level."...(Next)
Come Fly With Me
Spring 2006 (PDF)
Nansi J. Colley, PhD, investigates genes and mutations impacting the health of photoreceptor cells.
Imagine walking into a hangar filled with 6 million airplane parts. Properly assembled, the pieces will form a Boeing 747. Much in the same way, the human genetic "hangar" contains 3 billion pairs of DNA building blocks strung together in specific combinations to make our genes. Our human genetic makeup can be compared to the 747's list of parts. Just as putting all the parts out on the runway and cataloging them will not tell you how the plane flies, simply identifying the parts of the human genome does not tell scientists everything they need to know about how humans function and the underlying causes of blinding diseases...(Next)