Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 – 3571 WIMR Rob Nickells, Professor and Frederick A. Davis Chair of Ophthalmology (Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, UW-Madison) The other eye is not a control! Colleen McDowell, Associate …
Archive
Discovery opens new path toward restoring vision lost to blindness
McPherson ERI researchers have identified a protein called CD166/ALCAM that allows scientists to identify and purify a critical type of retinal photoreceptor for the first time. The discovery, published in Stem Cell Research and Therapy, …
MERI Member Curtis Brandt Awarded NIH R01
Congratulations to MERI Member Prof. Curtis Brandt (DOVS), who has been awarded a four-year R01 grant from the National Eye Institute to support his research in preventing herpes-related blindness. HSV-1 corneal infection can lead to …
CRISPR roadblocks: Scientists identify genes blocking gene therapy success
A recent publication in Nature Communications explores the human genome to identify genetic barriers that limit nonviral CRISPR editor delivery. By using a new screening platform across 19,114 human genes, researchers identified 26 cellular factors that …
UW-Madison Recruits Leading AMD Researcher Jianhai Du, PhD, as MERI’s Inaugural Monroe E. Trout, Jr. Chair in Eye Research
The UW-Madison Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and the McPherson Eye Research Institute at UW-Madison are pleased to announce the recruitment of Jianhai Du, PhD. Dr. Du joined the Department of Ophthalmology and …
New molecular therapy restores vision in model of inherited childhood blindness — and may open the door to treatment for dozens of rare diseases
A University of Wisconsin–Madison team led by MERI RRF Daniel M. Albert Chair, Prof. Bikash Pattnaik, has developed a molecular therapy that restores vision in a mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis type 16 (LCA16), …
Prof. Bikash Pattnaik’s research published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
Congratulations to MERI RRF Daniel M. Albert Chair, Prof. Bikash Pattnaik, for his recent publication in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy! Prof. Pattnaik’s paper, titled “Engineered tRNA reduces vision loss in a mouse model of …
McPherson ERI Spring 2026 InSights is out!
The latest InSights newsletter features articles on Dr. Donna Neumann’s work on the HSV-1 virus’s latency and activation cycle and Dr. Celia Bisbach’s work on projects targeting a variety of blinding diseases, as well as …
Kevin Eliceiri receives inaugural Spencer Shorte Legacy Award
The McPherson Eye Research Institute is proud to announce that our Associate Director Kevin Eliceiri has been named the inaugural recipient of the Spencer Shorte Legacy Award, presented by the Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities …
Celia Bisbach, PhD, Awarded Grant From BrightFocus Foundation’s Macular Degeneration Research Program
BrightFocus Foundation’s Macular Degeneration Research program has awarded a two-year, $200,000 postdoctoral fellowship grant to Celia Bisbach, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for her innovative research in vision health. A …