Author: chaim

Roger and Lynn Van Vreede have been married for 35 years and have also counted 35 years of supporting charitable causes together.  Their interests align well—both are lovers of the arts, and passionate gardeners and environmentalists.  (As Lynn says: “When we were kids, we’d take our shoes and socks off and run in the water…. …

When researchers test motor skills, hearing, vision and smell in people in their midlife, they are better able to identify those who may develop cognitive decline or impairment 10 years later, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. A research team, led by senior …

Using several innovative delivery methods, the new consortium – including researchers Krishanu Saha, Sarah Gong, David Gamm, Bikash Pattnaik and T. Michael Nork – will move ahead with gene editing techniques to treat two rare blinding diseases, Best disease and Leber congentital amaurosis (LCA).  Read more.

The highly prestigious award is presented annually by the BrightFocus Foundation to the top-rated New Investigator Grant recipient in recognition of exceptionally promising and forward-thinking ideas in the field of age-related macular degeneration.  Dr. Mowat holds a joint faculty position as an Assistant Professor in both the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and the …

Lab-grown Retinal Cells Make Successful Connections…. Successful connections between several types of dish-grown retinal cells were established in the lab, according to a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  The paper, a collaboration between the Gamm Lab (co-first-authors Allison Ludwig and Steven Mayerl) and Xinyu Zhao, PhD, is an essential …

We’d like to note two substantial new research grants recently received by McPherson ERI member PIs.  Congratulations to Olachi Mezu-Ndubuisi, MD, OD, who was recently awarded a five-year K08 Career Development Award from NIH/NEI in the amount of $1,221,730.  The award will support her work on retinopathy of prematurity.  Dr. Mezu-Ndubuisi was also named as …

For some people, career paths are well-defined tracks laid out early on. But for Ben Sajdak, who completed his Morgridge Postdoctoral Fellowship in September, a career path wasn’t initially apparent. However, two important “ah-ha” moments eventually brought a trajectory into focus. This month, Sajdak completed his three-year-long fellowship and joined Fauna Bio Inc. as the Director of Emerging Animal …

David Gamm (Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Emmett A. Humble Distinguished Director, McPherson ERI) is collaborating with colleagues Shaoqin (Sarah) Gong, a professor of biomedical engineering, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery faculty member and an expert in biomaterials, and Zhenqiang (Jack) Ma, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and an expert in semiconductors whose …

The McPherson Eye Research Institute’s Research and Leadership Committees are pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the Kenzi Valentyn Vision Research Grants.  Allison Ludwig, Kushin Mukherjee, Aindrila Saha, and Kara Vogel will each receive a one-year grant award of $5000 funded by the Institute’s Cycle for Sight event, which raises money to support vision …