Research News

We strive to serve as the catalyst for vision research. Our highest priority is to foster interactive, interdisciplinary, and translational studies of how the visual system functions in health and disease.


McPherson ERI Newsletters:   InSights and Point of View

2023

2022

2021

2020

  • New McPherson ERI Expanding Our Vision (EOV) grant recipients announced

    The Expanding Our Vision (EOV) grant program was started this year to provide awards of up to $10,000 to researchers performing vision-related research in visual communication, visual cognition, visual perception/performance, data visualization, development of novel …

  • McPherson ERI Fall 2020 Trainee Symposium, October 15th

    Please join us for the McPherson ERI Fall 2020 Trainee Symposium, to be held online in lieu of our annual in-person poster session.  McPherson ERI trainees will give 3-minute “flash talks” on their current research …

  • A New Approach to a Rare, Incurable Form of Blindness

    A collaboration among four McPherson ERI member labs has resulted in a proof-of-concept method to correct an inherited form of macular degeneration that causes blindness, and that is currently untreatable.  The research, which focused on …

  • Kenzi Valentyn Vision Research Grants 2020 Announced

    The McPherson Eye Research Institute’s Research and Leadership Committees are pleased to announce the 2020 recipients of the Kenzi Valentyn Vision Research Grants.  Anjani Sreepada Chakrala, Ralph W. Nelson, and Abhilash Sawant will each receive …

  • Visiting Scholar Program Announces Four 2020 Awards

    The McPherson ERI Visiting Scholar Program (VSP) provides a unique opportunity for McPherson ERI members to invite researchers from other institutions to visit UW-Madison for up to a week. Such immersive experiences facilitate in-depth interactions and …

  • David G. Walsh Research Travel Award Recipients, Spring 2020

    McPherson ERI/David G. Walsh Research Travel Awards provide funds for graduate students and postdocs from McPherson ERI members’ research groups to attend conferences to present vision-related work and to advance educational and professional development opportunities.  …

  • Schloss Lab Receives Grant to Understand Visual Reasoning

    Karen Schloss, Assistant Professor in UW-Madison’s Department of Psychology, has received a grant for $558,702 from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program.  The award is for a project intended to advance the …

  • More Research-2020 posts

2019

  • Kevin Eliceiri receives grant to improve software for automated microscopes

    Kevin Eliceiri, professor of medical physics and biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, plans to improve the architecture and infrastructure of μManager, an open-source software package for control of automated microscopes. Open-source software is …

  • MERI-at-a-Glance 2019

    McPherson ERI’s MERI-at-a-Glance event, which highlighted the breadth of vision research conducted by MERI members, took place at WID on Friday, November 22nd.  Eight McPherson ERI members gave short scientific presentations, alongside a pizza lunch …

  • Vision Science Poster Session Award Winners

    Thank you to all who attended and to all who displayed posters at the 11th annual McPherson Eye Research Institute Vision Science poster session on October 24th, including the sixteen students/trainees whose posters were considered …

  • McPherson ERI/David G. Walsh Research Travel Awards, Fall 2019

    McPherson ERI/David G. Walsh Research Travel Awards provide funds for graduate students and postdocs from McPherson ERI members’ research groups to attend conferences to present vision-related work and to advance educational and professional development opportunities. The …

  • Enrollment open for the Illuminating Discovery Science Communication Course

    McPherson ERI member H. Adam Steinberg, who for many years has offered McPherson ERI members and trainees an annual workshop on effectively presenting and communicating science in posters and presentations, will co-teach an Illuminating Discovery …

  • Applications Open for Fall 2019 Walsh Research Travel Awards

    With funding from Cycle for Sight as well as from the David G. Walsh Research Fellowship Fund, two David G. Walsh Research Travel Awards will be awarded to support graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers in …

  • McPherson ERI Researchers Develop Nanocapsules for Gene Therapy Delivery

    Tiny capsules packed with gene-editing tools offer alternative to viral delivery of gene therapy…. New tools for editing genetic code offer hope for new treatments for inherited diseases, some cancers, and even stubborn viral infections. …

  • More Research-2019 posts

2018

  • MERI-at-a-Glance on November 30th

    On Friday, November 30th, McPherson ERI members, their trainees and lab associates gathered at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) for MERI-at-a-Glance — eight short research presentations (10 minutes each) sharing vision-related findings and interests.  The …

  • NEI Audacious Goals Grants Awarded to McPherson ERI Members

    Two out of five new National Eye Institute Audacious Goals Initiative grants were awarded to teams headed by McPherson Eye Research Institute investigators, the NEI announced on Thursday, 10/8.  The funds, awarded “to accelerate the …

  • Applications Open for Fall 2018 Walsh Research Travel Awards

    This fall semester, with funding from Cycle for Sight as well as from the David G. Walsh Research Fellowship Fund, two David G. Walsh Research Travel Awards will be awarded to support graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers. The application process …

  • McPherson ERI 10th Annual Poster Session, Distinguished Lecture

    Dr. Jeremy Wolfe will speak following the 10th Annual McPherson ERI Poster Session, on Tuesday, October 16th. Please register to attend this year’s McPherson ERI poster session in the HSLC atrium, 3:00-5:30 PM!  Attendees are …

  • Fall Semester 2018 Seminars

    Fall Semester 2018, 12:00 to 1:00 PM, 2nd Tuesdays. Please join us at this semester’s vision research seminars! Please RSVP for pizza lunch to gmstirr@wisc.edu, 265-4023.  Pizza is sponsored by EyeKor, Inc. and Ocular Services …

  • Walsh Family Professorship to Support “Cutting-Edge Vision Research”

    The McPherson Eye Research Institute is pleased to announce the establishment of the David and Nancy Walsh Family Professorship in Vision Research, intended to support “cutting-edge vision research” at the Institute.  The Walsh family has …

  • 2018 Vision Research Trainee Grants Awarded

    Vision Research Trainee Grants Awarded to McPherson ERI Graduate Students Thomas Lawler and Dwani Patel are the 2018 recipients of the McPherson ERI’s Vision Research Trainee Grants.  These one-year grant awards of $3000 each are …

  • More Research-2018 posts

2017

2016

2015

2014

  • AMD Research Grant Awards

    Two McPherson ERI members from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences were the recent recipients of $25,000 grant awards from the James Christensen Estate Macular Degeneration Research Fund. The fund, established by a generous …

  • Metabolism Research in AMD Grant Award

    Drs. David Gamm (Director, McPherson Eye Research Institute), Brad Schwartz (CEO, Morgridge Institute for Research), and Terri Young (Chair, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) are pleased to announce the recipient of a $25,000 grant …

  • Hilldale Research Fellowship Awards

    We are pleased to announce Anna-Lisa Doebley as the recipient of the 2014-2015 McPherson ERI-sponsored Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship. This award provides a grant of $3,000 to the student and $500 to the faculty collaborator. …

  • More Research-2014 posts

2013