Distinguished Speaker Series Home Distinguished Speaker Series Ophthalmology Research Seminar: Distinguished Speaker Series The Center for Translational Vision Research Distinguished Speaker Series, also known as "Friday Seminars" showcases innovative research across the world. Since our foundation, CTVR and Gavin Herbert Eye Institute have historically hosted the Distinguished Speaker Series on groundbreaking ophthalmology research topics. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when most seminars were being canceled, we reinvented and pioneered our weekly Distinguished Speaker Series to quickly shift the seminars to a Zoom platform. The seminar series has now been expanded to include lectures by experts on topics ranging from Ophthalmology, Genetics, Biochemistry, Neurobiology, Imaging, Computational Sciences to Novel Ophthalmic Treatments. More significantly, this weekly seminar series has now become international in scope, with attendance numbering 80-300 people per week from all over the U.S. and internationally. This seminar series showcases the Vision Science Program and engages our colleagues from UCI, the region, the nation, and beyond. Please join us every Friday, 8:30 am–10:00 am, during the academic year in person and on zoom. For more information and Zoom details, email:Anna Kiker, MBA, CRA or Grazyna Palczewska, PhD Previously Recorded Seminars If you missed some of our Distinguished Speaker Seminars, no worries! You can watch previously recorded seminars. 2020 Recorded Distinguished Speaker Seminars 2021 Recorded Distinguished Speaker Seminars 2022 Recorded Distinguished Speaker Seminars Speakers May 17, 2024 Cell-specific metabolism in the retina Jianhai Du, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, West Virginia University Profile view event details May 10, 2024 Targeting Protein Quality Control to Treat Eye Diseases Jonathan H. Lin, MD, PhD, Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology Director, Ophthalmic Pathology, Stanford University, CA Profile view event details May 03, 2024 No Seminar ARVO 2024 Conference, Seattle, WA Apr 26, 2024 The Molecular Genetics of a Syndromic Retinopathy (Bardet-Biedl Syndrome) and Treatment of Inherited Blindness Val C. Sheffield, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Ophthalmology, Division of Medical Genetics, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA Profile view event details Apr 19, 2024 Usherin and its role in health and disease Muna I. Naash, PhD, John S. Dunn Professor of Biomedical Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Houston, Houston, TX Profile view event details Apr 12, 2024 Using genetics for glaucoma risk stratification Janey L. Wiggs, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Vice Chair for Clinical Research in Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Profile view event details Apr 05, 2024 Atypical opsin light sensing in development, homeostasis and disease Richard Lang, PhD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, and Director of Visual Systems Group, Cincinnati Children Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH Profile view event details Mar 29, 2024 No Seminar University of California is observing Cesar Chavez Day Mar 22, 2024 Using functional biomarkers for early detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy Machelle T. Pardue, PhD, FARVO, FAIMBE, Professor and Vice Chair of Research in Ophthalmology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA Profile view event details Mar 15, 2024 Novel Treatments for Inherited Retinal Degenerations Mark E. Pennesi, MD, PhD, Director, Ophthalmic Genetics Lab, Retina Foundation, Dallas, TX Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 08, 2024 Photovoltaic restoration of sight in age-related macular degeneration Daniel Palanker, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, Stanford, California Profile view event details Mar 01, 2024 Cortical circuitry for vision and reading Brian A. Wandell, PhD, Psychology Department, Founding Director, Stanford’s Center for Neurobiological Imaging, Stanford University, Stanford, CA Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 23, 2024 Innovations in eye surgery Robert MacLaren,MB,ChB, DPhil, FRCOphth, FRCS, FACS, FMedSci, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, England Profile view event details Feb 16, 2024 Frontiers of Deep Learning and Ophthalmology Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 09, 2024 Retinal Gene Therapy from Models to Man: The Promise, The Problems and Lessons Learned Gustavo Aguirre, VMD, PhD, Professor of Medical Genetics and Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 02, 2024 Mechanisms for Signaling Axoptosis Leonard Levin, MD, PhD, Distinguished James McGill Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Quebec, Canada Profile view event details Jan 26, 2024 A New Paradigm in Retinal Genetics: Targeted long-read sequencing provides rapid phased variant identification to improve diagnostic yield in Mendelian diseases of the retina Debarshi Mustafi, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Pediatric Vitreo-retinal Specialist, Seattle Children’s Hospital Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 19, 2024 Gene regulatory mechanisms governing human development, evolution and variation Joanna Wysocka, PhD, Professor, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 12, 2024 Treating heritable blindness Budd Tucker, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology; Director Ruby Retinal Engineering Laboratory, Institute for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa. Profile view event details view seminar recording Dec 22, 2023 Developing Novel Therapies for Glaucoma Gulab Zode, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Center for Translational Vision Research, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California, Irvine view event details Dec 15, 2023 Sorsby Fundus Dystrophy: New insights into molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis Bela Anand-Apte, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH Profile view event details Dec 08, 2023 Retinal and central limits to primate motion processing J. Anthony Movshon, PhD, Professor, Neural Science and Psychology, Ophthalmology and of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University, New York Profile view event details Dec 01, 2023 Precision Genome Surgery for Imprecision Medicine Stephen H Tsang, MD, PhD, Professor, Ophthalmology, Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University, New York Profile view event details Nov 17, 2023 Biology of clearing dying cells and its relevance to retinal health Kodi S. Ravichandran, PhD, Chief, Division of Immunobiology, Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO Profile view event details Nov 03, 2023 Development of the binocular circuit: The Albino puzzle Carol Mason, PhD, Professor, Departments of Pathology and Cell Biology, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology; Chair of Interschool Planning, Columbia University Profile view event details Oct 27, 2023 Spatio-temporal Optical Coherence Tomography a new way of structural and functional eye imaging Maciej Wojtkowski, PhD, Head of Department of Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (ICHF-PAN), Warsaw, Poland view event details view seminar recording Oct 20, 2023 Retinal Connectomics and Pathoconnectomics Bryan W. Jones, PhD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, the University of Utah Profile view event details view seminar recording Oct 13, 2023 Foveal vision in birds: midget versus non-midget pathways and beyond Jean-Marc Matter, PhD, Director of Research and Senior Lecturer, University of Geneva, Faculty of Science, Geneva, Switzerland Profile view event details view seminar recording Oct 06, 2023 Adenine base editing for gene correction in Stargardt disease Bence Gyorgy MD, PhD, Head of the Ophthalmic Translational Research Group at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) Profile view event details Sep 29, 2023 What the human eye tells the human mind Zygmunt Pizlo, Ph.D., Professor and Falmagne Endowed Chair, Cognitive Sciences, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine Profile view event details view seminar recording Sep 22, 2023 Exploration of VHL-related retinal hemangioblastomas Michael Gorin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, Human Genetics, University of California Los Angeles Profile view event details view seminar recording Sep 15, 2023 Inflammation in MERTK-dependent retinitis pigmentosa Sourav Ghosh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine Profile view event details view seminar recording Sep 08, 2023 Stemming Vision Loss with Stem Cells (and a little help from encapsulated cell therapy) Martin Friedlander, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute Profile view event details Jun 02, 2023 Quantitative high resolution imaging of the anterior segment: applications in prevalent eye conditions Susana Marcos, Ph.D., Professor of Optics and Ophthalmology, Director, Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, NY Profile view event details May 26, 2023 Retinal Implants Mark S. Humayun, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering, and Integrative Anatomical Sciences University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Profile view event details May 19, 2023 Toward treatments for retinitis pigmentosa David Birch, Ph.D., Scientific Director, Retina Foundation of the Southwest Profile view event details view seminar recording May 12, 2023 Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms Underlying Retinal Ganglion Cell Genesis During Development Xiuqian Mu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Ophthalmology/Ross Eye Institute Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The State University of New York at Buffalo Profile view event details view seminar recording May 05, 2023 Rapid RGR-dependent visual pigment recycling is mediated by the RPE and specialized Müller glia Alexander Tworak, Ph.D. Center for Translational Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Irvine view event details Apr 28, 2023 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, No Seminar The Beauty of Diversity in Science and Nature view event details Apr 21, 2023 Modeling myopia to fish for mechanisms of emmetropia Brian Link, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin Profile view event details Apr 14, 2023 Observations on the Alternate Visual Cycle for Regenerating Cone Visual Pigments Gabriel H. Travis, M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology and Biological Chemistry, UCLA School of Medicine, CA Profile view event details view seminar recording Apr 07, 2023 Harnessing keratin to treat ocular inflammation Connie Tam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology. Cleveland Clinic, Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 31, 2023 Mouse Models for Dissecting Genetic Interactions and Complex Retinal Diseases Patsy Nishina, Ph.D., Professor, Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Tufts University School of Medicine Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 24, 2023 Retinal injury, disease and evolution – a molecular perspective. Joshua R. Sanes, Ph.D., Jeff C. Tarr Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 17, 2023 A look into retinal organoids for understanding retinal disease mechanisms and developing therapies Michael Cheetham, Ph.D., Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 10, 2023 Stimulating Photoreceptor Regeneration in Zebrafish Models of Retinal Dystrophy Brian Perkins, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH Profile view event details view seminar recording Mar 03, 2023 Targeting bystander effects to slow down inherited photoreceptor degeneration Enrica Strettoi, Ph.D., Director of Research, CNR Neuroscience Institute, Pisa, Italy Profile view event details Feb 24, 2023 Retinal encoding of natural images Fred Rieke, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 17, 2023 Illuminating visual circuits Tiffany M. Schmidt, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurobiology Secondary Appointment, Department of Ophthalmology Director, Undergraduate Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 10, 2023 Molecular, Cellular, and Circuit Specializations for Non-Image Vision Michael Tri H. Do, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Profile view event details view seminar recording Feb 03, 2023 Toward a High-Fidelity Artificial Retina E.J. Chichilnisky, Ph.D., John R. Adler Professor, Department of Neurosurgery and Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 27, 2023 Rod-Mediated Dark Adaptation as a Functional Biomarker for Early AMD Owsley, Cynthia, Ph.D., MSPH, Professor, Nathan E. Miles Chair of Ophthalmology; Director, Clinical Research Unit, the University of Alabama, Birmingham Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 20, 2023 Adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy for understanding photoreceptor structure, function, and treatment response in choroideremia. Jessica I. W. Morgan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 13, 2023 Precision Ophthalmology for Stargardt/ABCA4 Disease Rando L. Allikmets, PhD, William and Donna Acquavella Professor at the Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology & Cell Biology, and Director of Research at the Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University, New York Profile view event details view seminar recording Jan 06, 2023 Shedding Light on Bisretinoids of Retina Janet R. Sparrow PhD, Anthony Donn Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York Profile view event details view seminar recording Dec 16, 2022 Visual restoration: from prostheses to optogenetic and sonogenetic therapies Serge Picaud, PhD, HDR, Director, Paris Vision Institute, France Profile view event details view seminar recording Dec 09, 2022 The Nexus of Genes-Aging-Environment in Determining Disease Phenotypes: Lessons from Age-Related Macular Degeneration Anand Swaroop, PhD, Senior Investigator, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, NEI Profile view event details view seminar recording Dec 02, 2022 Rho Kinase Inhibitors Reduce Retinal Detachment-Induced Photoreceptor-Bipolar Cell Synapse Disruption Marco Attilio Eugenio Zarbin MD, PhD, Alfonse A. Cinotti, MD/Lions Eye Research Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Profile view event details view seminar recording Nov 18, 2022 The choriocapillaris in age-related macular degeneration: avoiding an existential lysis Robert Mullins, PhD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The University of Iowa view event details view seminar recording Nov 11, 2022 Light signaling in the mouse and human eye in health and disease Frans Vinberg, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah view event details view seminar recording Nov 04, 2022 The Dark Side of Vision: Seeing Quantal Shadows Petri Ala-Laurila, DSc, Associate Professor Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Finland view event details Oct 28, 2022 What can patient iPSC-RPE cells tell us about age related macular degeneration? Majlinda Lako, PhD, Professor of Stem Cell Sciences, Newcastle University, UK Deputy Director of Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, UK, Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK view event details Oct 21, 2022 Pathways for generation and elimination of retinal ganglion cells Monica Vetter, PhD, Professor and Chair of Neurobiology, Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences,The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah view event details Oct 14, 2022 The major heritable risk factors for myopia and the implications for its mechanism and prevention Maureen Neitz, PhD, Ray H. Hill Professor in Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA view event details view seminar recording Oct 07, 2022 Building a better in vitro disease model for glaucoma-associated neurodegeneration Jason S. Meyer, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN view event details Sep 30, 2022 Oxidative stress: A common mechanism in optic nerve degenerations Tonia Rex, PhD, Professor of Opthalmology & Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN view event details view seminar recording Sep 23, 2022 AO and Flow: adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy reveals details of single blood cells in the living eye Jesse B. Schallek, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Neuroscience University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY view event details Sep 16, 2022 The Future of Vision Research Michael F. Chiang, MD, Director, The National Eye Institute (NEI) view event details View seminar recording Sep 09, 2022 Targeting Unfolded Protein Response as a Gene-Independent Approach to Treat Retinal Degenerative Disorders Marina Gorbatyuk, PhD, Professor, School of Optometry, Department of Optometry and Vision Science UAB | The University of Alabama at Birmingham View Event Details view seminar recording Jun 17, 2022 From artificial corneal transplants to new Intraocular lenses: What are the developments in Europe? Gerd U. Auffarth, MD, Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Director of the David J. Apple International Laboratory for Ocular Pathology, Director of the International Vision Correction Research Centre (IVCRC) Jun 10, 2022 Regeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium Jeff Gross, PhD, Professor and Research Director, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. Professor and Chair of the Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin. View Seminar Recording Jun 03, 2022 Systems pharmacology for therapy of retinal degeneration: Targeting proteostasis, the p97/VCP story Marius Ueffing, PhD, Professor, Head of the Division of Molecular Biology of Retinal Degenerations & the Core Facility for Medical Bioanalytics, University of Tübingen, Germany View Seminar Recording May 27, 2022 Visual Cycling from Mice to Macromolecules Philip D. Kiser, PharmD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of California, Irvine View Seminar Recording May 20, 2022 Role of cGMP Phosphodiesterase in Rod Photoreceptor Signals and Noise Alapakkam P. Sampath, PhD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles View Seminar Recording May 13, 2022 Molecular Components Affecting Ocular Retinoid Homeostasis Johannes Von Lintig, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University View Seminar Recording May 06, 2022 In Search for a Cure for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Akrit Sodhi, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University Apr 22, 2022 Novel mechanisms and therapeutic targets for macular degenerations Aparna Lakkaraju, PhD, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco Apr 15, 2022 Precise genome editing in the eye Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD, Bren Professor, Distinguished Professor, Center for Translational Vision Research, University of California, Irvine Apr 08, 2022 Improving Visual Function of Foveal Cones in Inherited Retinal Diseases Artur Cideciyan, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania View Seminar Recording Apr 01, 2022 Retinal ganglion cell differentiation and transplantation Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University Mar 25, 2022 Squaring the Circle: Sorting out the Missing Bits of RPE65 Michael Redmond, PhD, Senior Investigator and Chief, Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology, National Eye Institute (NEI) View Seminar Recording Mar 18, 2022 Assisted Living in the Outer Retina Douglas Vollrath, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics, Stanford University View Seminar Recording Mar 11, 2022 Structure and Misfolding in Myocilin-associate Glaucoma: How does a Protein’s Structure Spell the Difference Between Health and Disease Raquel Lieberman, PhD, Professor, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology View Seminar Recording Mar 04, 2022 Linking the Structure and Function of ABCA4 to Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Approaches to Stargardt Macular Degeneration Robert S. Molday, PhD, FRSC, Professor, Canada Research Chair in Vision and Macular Degeneration, University of British Columbia View Seminar Recording Feb 25, 2022 Novel Outcome Measures in inherited Retinal Degenerations Jacque L Duncan, MD, Professor, Clinical Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco Feb 18, 2022 Monocyte-derived macrophages in the retina; posers or protagonists Marie Burns, PhD, Professor, Dept of Cell Bio and Human Anatomy and Professor, Dept of Ophthalmology & Vision Science, University of California, Davis View Seminar Recording Feb 11, 2022 Effects of light deprivation and visual cycle inhibition on bio-energetic signaling in the diabetic retina and Ex vivo imaging of PKA activity with PKAch Rithwick Rajagopal, MD, PhD, Ass Professor, Chief of Pediatric Vitreoretinal Surgery Service John F. Hardesty Dep of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Washington University, MO and Shinya Sato, PhD, Laboratory Chief, NCVC, Osaka, JAPAN View Seminar Recording Feb 04, 2022 Gene Therapy Approaches to Prolong Cone Survival Connie Cepko, PhD, Bullard Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience Departments of Genetics and Ophthalmology, Blavatnik Institute Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Co-Director, Leder Human Biology and Translational Medicine, Harvard Medical Sc View Seminar Recording Jan 28, 2022 Abusive Head Trauma and Ocular Findings; Past, Present, and Future, Current Research on Artificial Intelligence in 2022 Donny W. Suh, MD, FAAP, MBA, FACS, Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Professor Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California, Irvine View Seminar Recording Jan 21, 2022 Lipids, Retina, and Diabetes: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Julia V. Busik, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology, Michigan State University View Seminar Recording Jan 14, 2022 Large Animal Models of Inherited Retinal Diseases Simon M Petersen-Jones DVetMed, PhD, DVOphthal, DECVO, MRCVS, Professor, Myers Dunlap Endowed Chair in Canine Health, Michigan State University Jan 07, 2022 Role of Age and Epigenetics in Neuro-Retinal Stress Response Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, Assistant Professor Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Department of Ophthalmology Center for Translational Vision Research, University of California, Irvine