Education Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research is committed to recruiting a diverse body of students interested in vision and ophthalmology research and to training the next generation of vision scientists and leaders in the field. Home Education Welcome to BCTVR The Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research (BCTVR) fosters an environment that welcomes all students and scientists. BCTVR is committed to mentoring our students through research, F-series individual fellowship and other grant applications, and creating student and postdoc symposiums. The Center promotes and supports excellence through diversity and encourages all qualified students to pursue their application process. Celebrating Our Researchers Congratulations, Dr. Shivkumar! Dr. Aashish Shivkumar, a postdoctoral fellow, in the lab of Dr. Audrone (Audrey) Lapinaite, has been awarded the prestigious Gordon and Betty Moore Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2026. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Postdoctoral Fellowship recognizes the critical role postdoctoral fellows play in advancing scientific discovery and the importance of maintaining the talent pipeline for science. Dr. Shivkumar graduated with a B.Tech in Pharmaceutical Technology from Anna University, Chennai in 2017, followed by an MS in Chemistry from UC San Diego in 2019 and a PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from UCSD in 2024 under the mentorship of Prof. Jerry Yang. He joined the Lapinaite lab at UC Irvine in 2025. His research interests include protein engineering, genome editing technologies, and developing therapeutic applications for treating genetic diseases. Congratulations, Emily Tom! Emily Tom, an MD/PhD candidate in Dr. Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk’s lab, has just been chosen to receive a 2025-2026 Distinguished Public Impact Fellowship. The Fellowship is intended to support and highlight academically excellent students whose research demonstrates the potential to significantly improve or enrich the lives of people in California and beyond. ㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤ ㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ㅤㅤ⠀ Congratulations, Carolline Rodrigues Menezes! Carolline Rodrigues Menezes, MD is a Department of Physiology and Biophysics graduate student, who works in the laboratory of Dr. Krzysztof Palczewski. Carolline was recently selected as the recipient of the competitive 2024-2025 Stanley Behrens Fellows in Medicine award due to her impressive translational research background, scientific promise and communication skills. Carolline completed her medical training and received her MD degree in Brazil. Now her research in the Palczewski's lab focuses on developing virus-like particles with specific trophism in the eye. These particles leverage efficient viral targeting while maintaining the benefits of transient delivery. She currently works on detecting varying surface glycoproteins that can be used for generation of novel VLPs with distinct trophism in the eye. Carolline is also developing a humanized mouse model of a known disease-causing mutation in the MERTK gene and developing specific genome editing tools for rescue of this mutation. BCTVR Committed to Mentoring The Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research fosters an environment that welcomes all students and scientists. BCTVR is committed to mentoring our students through research, F-series individual fellowship and other grant applications, and creating student and postdoc symposiums. The Brunson Center promotes and supports excellence through diversity and encourages all qualified students to pursue their application process. Teaching and Training Affiliated Programs Seminars and Symposiums Funding Opportunities