Walsh Travel Award Recipients
2026 Winners – Spring
Ivette Colón
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, L&S
Mentor: Tim Rogers
Conference:
Cognitive Science Society Conference
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. July, 2026.
Paper presented:
“Idiosyncratic codes in distributed minds”
Adam Darlington
Graduate Student
Department of Neuroscience, SMPH
Mentor: Mrinalini Hoon
Conference:
Federation of Experimental Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Retinal Neurobiology and Visual Processing Sacramento, CA. June, 2026.
Paper presented:
“Role of early visual activity for regulating synaptic connectivity in the mammalian retina”
Taylor Rau
Graduate Student
Department of Neuroscience, Medical College of Wisconsin
Mentor: Miranda Scalabrino
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting Denver, CO. May, 2026.
Paper presented:
“Dysregulated expression of Lin7b in ON bipolar cells leads to structural & functional changes in retinal circuitry”
Timur Mavlyutov
Scientist I
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, SMPH
PI: Colleen McDowell
Conference:
XXVII Biennial Meeting of the Int. Society for Eye Research
Valencia, Spain. August, 2026.
Paper presented:
“CGRP Sensory Neurites in the Trabecular Meshwork Regulate Aqueous Outflow and Protect Against Glaucoma”
Praveen Joseph Susaimanickam
Scientist I
Waisman Center
PI: David Gamm
Conference:
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2026
Denver, CO. May, 2026.
Paper presented:
“Development of a 3D in vitro optic nerve model to test optic nerve coaptation strategies”
2025 Winners – Fall
Miral Abdalaziz
Graduate Student
Department of Neuroscience, SMPH
Mentor: Ari Rosenberg
Conference:
2025 Society for Neuroscience
San Diego, CA. November, 2025.
Paper presented:
“Visuospatial working memory depends on the phase-locking of beta oscillations in macaque parietal cortex”
Madison Dillerud
Graduate Student
Department of Neuroscience, SMPH
Mentor: Tim Gomez
Conference:
2025 Society for Neuroscience
San Diego, CA. November, 2025.
Paper presented:
“Dissecting the role of extracellular matrix proteins, cell adhesion molecules, and cytoskeletal regulators in age-dependent loss of human photoreceptor terminal motility”
Yuheng Wu
Graduate Student
Department of Computer Sciences, CDIS
Mentor: Yuhang Zhao
Conference:
International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV 2025)
Honolulu, HI. October, 2025.
Paper presented:
“AI-Powered Augmented Reality for Complex Environment Perception for People with Low Vision”
2025 Winners – Spring
Celia Bisbach
Postdoctoral Researcher
Waisman Center
Mentor: David Gamm
Conference:
2025 Biology and Chemistry of Vision (FASEB) Southbridge, MA. June 22-26, 2025.
Paper presented:
“Establishing Human Retinal Organoids as a Model to Elucidate the Retinal Usher Interactomes”
Jacob Khoussine
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SMPH
Mentor: Kim Stepien & Jeremy Rogers
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2025 Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. May 4-8, 2025.
Paper presented:
“Adaptive optics imaging after retinal detachment repair reveals photoreceptor alterations linked to visual dysfunction”
2024 Winners – Fall
Tanuj Kumar
Graduate Student
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, CoE
Mentor: Mikhail Kats
Conference:
2024 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting. Boston, MA. December 1-6, 2024.
Paper presented:
“Interferometric Measurements of Temperature-Dependent Optical Absorption in Low-Loss SiN Membranes for Laser Sails”
Tania Sharmin
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SMPH
Mentor: Colleen McDowell
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2025 Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. May 4-8, 2025.
Paper presented:
“Role of Integrin α4 and α9 in the development of elevated IOP and trabecular meshwork damage”
2024 Winners – Fall
David Barnett
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SMPH
Mentor: Freya Mowat
Conference:
ARVO 2024 annual meeting. Seattle, WA. May 5-9, 2024.
Paper presented:
“Pgc1a haploinsufficiency causes functional retinal deficits in aged mice”
Carter Sifferman
Graduate Student
Computer Sciences, CDIS
Mentor: Michael Gleicher & Mohit Gupta
Conference:
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2024. Yokohama, Japan. May 13-17, 2024.
Paper presented:
“Unlocking the Performance of Proximity Sensors by Utilizing Transient Histograms”
2023 Winners – Fall
Andrew Miller
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Neuroscience, SMPH
Mentor: Raunak Sinha
Conference:
Society for Neuroscience 2023. Washington, DC. November 2023.
Poster presented:
“Retinal circuit contributions to luminance adaptation in primate foveal and peripheral retina”
Mason Shipley
Graduate Student
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, SMPH
Mentor: Donna Neumann
Conference:
The International Herpes Workshop. Portland, OR. July 2024.
Poster presented:
“Discovering Novel Therapeutics using Corneal Application of rAAV-Delivered Ribozymes that
Target the Latency Associated Transcript of HSV-1”
2023 Winners – Fall
Kristina Chern
Graduate Student
Dept. of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin
Mentor: Daniel Lipinski
Conference:
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Meeting (ARVO). New Orleans, LA. April 2023.
Poster presented:
“Effects of a prostaglandin-based rAAV gene therapy for the treatment of glaucoma in DBA/2J mice”
Kim Edwards
Graduate Student
Dept. of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, SMPH
Mentor: David Gamm
Conference:
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Meeting (ARVO). New Orleans, LA. April 2023.
Poster presented:
“In-depth molecular characterization of retinal organoids from pig pluripotent stem cells”
Ru Wang
Graduate Student
Dept. of Computer Sciences, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Yuhang Zhao
Conference:
CHI 2023 – Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Hamburg, Germany. April 2023.
Poster presented:
“Understanding how low vision people read using eye tracking”
2022 Winners – Fall
Jacob Khoussine
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Mrinalini Hoon
Conference:
Neuroscience 2022 Washington D.C. November 2023.
Poster presented:
“Luminance-Dependent Compensation of Retinal Output Pathways in a Model of Congenital Stationary Night Blindness.”
Ziyun Ye
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Donna Neumann
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). New Orleans, LA. April 2023.
Poster presented:
“Targeting Axonal Transport Mechanisms in the Treatment of Recurrent Ocular HSV-1 Infections.”
No awards given this semester due to pandemic
No awards given this year due to pandemic
No awards given this semester due to pandemic
2020 Winners – Spring
Steven Mayerl
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: David Gamm
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Baltimore, MD. May 2020.
Poster presented:
“Assessing hPSC-derived retinal neuron synapse formation in vitro via monosynaptic retrograde tracing”
Natascha Merten
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Karen Cruickshanks
Conference:
The Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. November 2020.
Poster presented:
“Macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer as a marker of cognitive and sensory function in midlife”
2019 Winners – Fall
Ryan Donahue
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Rob Nickells
Conference:
2019 International Society for Eye Research (ISER)/Brightfocus Glaucoma Symposium. Atlanta, GA. October 2019.
Poster presented:
“BcIx gene therapy prevents BAX activation and preserves retinal ganglion cell axons”
Mengguo Jing
Graduate Student
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human Ecology
Mentor: Heather Kirkorian
Conference:
Cognitive Development Society Biennial Meeting. Louisville, KY. October 2019.
Poster presented:
“The effect of comprehensibility on saliency-based gaze prediction for children and adults watching Sesame Street“
2019 Winners – Spring
Melissa Schoenlein
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Karen Schloss
Conference:
Vision Sciences Society. St. Pete Beach, FL. May 2019.
Poster presented:
“Building color-concept association distributions from statistical learning”
Yong-Seok Song
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Nader Sheibani
Conference:
Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD. March 2019.
Poster presented:
“Vitamin D receptor expression modulates the angiogenic properties of endothelial cells through suppression of oxidative stress and inflammation”
2018 Winners – Fall
Jayer Fernandes
Graduate Student
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Mentor: Hongrui Jiang
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (ARVO). Vancouver, CA. April 2019.
Poster presented:
“High contrast grating based sensor for distributed measurement of intraocular pressure”
Zach Simmons
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering
Mentor: Jeremy Rogers
Conference:
SPIE BiOS Conference. San Francisco, CA. February 2019.
Poster presented:
“Spatially resolved spectral 4pi optical scattering goniometry and experimental refractive index autocorrelations”
2018 Winners – Spring
Divya Sinha
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: David Gamm
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (ARVO). Honolulu, HI. April 2018.
Talk presented:
“Mitochondrial integrity and function in hPSC-derived RPE”
Pawan Kumar Shahi
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Bikash Pattnaik
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (ARVO). Honolulu, HI. April 2018.
Poster presented:
“Rescue of Kir7.1 function by gene augmentation in LCA16 patient derived iPSC-RPE cells”
Nasim Jamali
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Nader Sheibani
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (ARVO). Honolulu, HI. April 2018.
Poster presented:
“1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 inhibits angiogenesis through increased expression of VEGF and attenuation of pericyte proliferation and migration in a
Vdr-dependent manner”
Maryse Lapierre-Landry
Graduate Student
Morgridge Institute for Research, Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering
Mentor: Melissa Skala
Conference:
SPIE Photonics West. San Francisco, CA. January 2018.
Poster presented:
“Photothermal optical coherence tomography of indocyanine green in the eye”
Gurugirijha Rathnasamy
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Aparna Lakkaraju
Conference:
FASEB Science Research Conference: Biology and Chemistry of Vision. Steamboat Springs, CO. June 2017.
Poster presented:
“Live-cell imaging of mitochondrial dynamics in the retinal pigment epithelium”
Seung Heon Yoo
Graduate Student
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, School of Ecology
Mentor: Heather Kirkorian
Conference:
Society for Research in Child Development 2017 Biennial Meeting. Austin, TX. April 2017.
Talk presented:
“The impact of background TV on toddlers’ toy play and attention: An examination of formal-feature density”
Bradley Gundlach
Graduate Student
Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Mentor: Mikhail Kats
Conference:
SPIE Photonics West. San Francisco, CA. January 2017.
Poster presented:
“Enhancing human color vision with thin-film optical filters by breaking binocular redundancy”
Eric Nguyen
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Nader Sheibani
Conference:
Toxicology Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD. March 2017.
Poster presented:
“Construction of a neurovascular system using induced pluripotent stem cells and screening for chemicals with adverse vascular effects”
Wei-Hua Lee
Postdoctoral Researcher
Medical Genetics, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Aki Ikeda
Conference:
Mechanisms of Aging Meeting. Cold Springs Harbor, NY. September 2016.
Poster presented:
“Mouse Tmem135 mutation reveals a mechanism involving mitochondrial dynamics that leads to AMD pathologies”
Kazuya Oikawa
Graduate Student
Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine
Mentor: Gillian McLellan
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Seattle, WA. May 2016.
Poster presented:
“Early changes in optic nerve head (ONH) gene expression in a spontaneous glaucoma model”
Mitra Farnoodian
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Nader Sheibani
Conference:
Experimental Biology. San Diego, CA. April 2016.
Poster presented:
“High glucose promotes the pro-migratory phenotype of retinal pigment epithelial cells through increased oxidative stress”
Jacqueline Fulvio
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Bas Rokers
Conference:
Society for Neuroscience. Chicago, IL. October 2015.
Talk presented:
“The neural correlates of 3D motion perception”
Clint Jensen
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Vanessa Simmering
Conference:
Jean Piaget Society Conference. Toronto, Canada. June 2015.
Poster presented:
“A developmental exploration of the influence of conceptual knowledge on visual recognition”
Kimberly Toops
Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Aparna Lakkaraju
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Denver, CO. May 2015.
Talk presented:
“Complex anomalies in late endosome and lysosome trafficking in stressed retinal pigment epithelial cells”
Brian Allen
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Bas Rokers
Conference:
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. November 2014.
Paper presented:
“Altered white matter in early visual pathways as a result of amblyopia”
Caitlin MacNair
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentor: Rob Nickells
Conference:
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). Denver, CO. May 2015.
Talk presented:
“Pannexin 1 expression in macroglia modulates activation of these cells after optic nerve crush”
Catherine (Taddy) Fick
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, College of Letters and Sciences
Mentor: Bas Rokers
Conference:
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. November 2014.
Paper presented:
“Altered white matter in early visual pathways as a result of amblyopia”
Li Xuan Tan
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentors: Aparna Lakkaraju
Conference:
American Society for Cell Biology. Philadelphia, PA. December 2014.
Poster presented:
“Novel regulators of the lysosome-autophagy axis in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)”
Koeun Choi
Graduate Student
Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human Ecology
Mentors: Heather Kirkorian
Conference:
Human Development & Family Studies, School of human Ecology. San Diego, CA. November 2013.
Poster presented:
“Learning to Attend, Attending to Learn: Neurological,
behavioral and computational perspectives”
Nasim Jamali
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentors: Nader Sheibani
Conference:
Learning to Attend, Attending to Learn: Neurological,
behavioral and computational perspectives. San Diego, CA. April 2014
Poster presented:
“Attention, comprehension, and learning from video: Evidence from eye movement studies”
Yun Zhao
Graduate Student
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentors: Nader Sheibani
Conference: Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting. San Antonio TX, March 2013
Poster presented: “Cyp1b1 regulates trabecular meshwork development through modulation of oxidative stress and periostin expression”
Sharolyn Kawakami
Graduate Student
Medical Genetics, School of Medicine and Public Health
Mentors: Aki Ikeda and Sakae Ikeda
Conference:
Gordon Research Conference on “Biology and Pathology of the Cornea”. Ventura, CA. March 2012.
Poster presented:
“Rescue of Dstncorn1 corneal phenotypes via Srf genetic ablation”
Michelle Wilson
Graduate Student
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering
Mentor: Paul Nealey
Conference:
Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting and Exposition: Animating Materials. Orlando, FL. April 2011.
Poster presented:
“Adhesive peptides modified with long spacers encourage human corneal epithelial cell attachment and spreading”