Teaching and Training HBCU Vision Research Summer Internship Program Undergraduate Opportunities Visual Science Training Program Curriculum For Faculty How to Apply T32 Trainees & Alumni Training Faculty & Staff Meet Our Training Faculty & Staff Home Education Teaching and Training Visual Science Training Program Training Faculty & Staff Faculty Directors & Administrators The VSTP at UC Irvine encompasses a broad collection of research and training areas of relevance to vision science and ophthalmology. The training areas are intellectually developed through a coordinated effort between the MPI, Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD, Philip Kiser, PharmD, PhD, and Chang Liu, PhD and administratively managed by Associate Director, Anna Kiker, MBA. Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD Director, Center for Translational Vision Research Donald Bren & Distinguished Professor, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Ophthalmology Phillip Kiser, PhD, PharmD Assistant Professor, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Ophthalmology Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics Chang Liu, PhD Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering Anna Kiker, MBA, CRA Associate Director, Center for Translational Vision Research The VSTP training program has support of the following training faculty: Below is a list of participating faculty in the VSTP training program, with brief summaries of their title and research interests. Lbachir BenMohamed, PhD (Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry) Dr. Ben Mohamed examines the humoral and cellular immune responses to Herpes Simplex viral infections, including epitope mapping and development, and optimization of sub-unit vaccines. His basic research currently focuses on characterizing CD8 responses between symptomatic and asymptomatic Herpes Simplex Viral infections (HSV-1) in the cornea and in genital herpes (HSV-2). Dr. Ben Mohamed’s lab is also mapping T cell epitopes to generate vaccines against HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections. He recently received major NIH funding to develop a novel vaccine that reacts with essentially all strains of COVID. Andrew Browne, MD, PhD (Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) Dr. Browne’s research focuses on the development and function of retinal organoids, the use of lasers for two-photon functional imaging to understand retinal function; and development of intraocular technologies to assist low-vision patients, and to facilitate surgery and disease management. Dr. Browne recently was awarded an NIH-funded Career Development award, and is establishing his independent vision research program. John Chaput, PhD (Professor, Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) Dr. Chaput creates ecosystems of molecular biology parts that allow for the propagation of artificial nucleic acids (XNAs) that are biologically stable and responsive to directed evolution. Dr. Chaput group has shown that such systems allow for the engineering and optimization of XNA polymers towards bioactivity, such as binding disease targets or silencing disease genes. Since these biomolecules are non-natural, they carry out their function while being resistant to nucleases, making them strong candidates for a new generation of biomolecular therapeutics. The addition of XNAs into the landscape of therapeutic scaffolds has broad implications and applications for biomedicine, and translational vision research will be a strong testbed for such applications. Tim Downing, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics) Dr. Downing focuses on understanding the influence of epigenetic modifications on cell fate and behavior. His group’s recent work developed two novel methods to measure the dynamic nature of DNA methylation following DNA replication in cells, specifically nascent DNA capture followed by bisulfite sequencing (Repli-BS) and multiplexed single-cell Repli-BS. With these technologies, they can uncover the dynamics of methylation in newly replicated DNA. Associated with measuring epigenomic states of cells is Dr. Downing’s newer focus on editing the epigenome, where his lab is interested in the design of epigenome editors such as ones based on Cas9 and DNA methyltransferases. Jered Haun, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering) Dr. Haun focuses on developing and deploying nanomaterial molecular probes and microfabricated devices to detect diseases, which are readily adapted to vision science research. His group specializes in nanomaterial-based diagnostics for molecular profiling of clinical samples, designing microfluidic devices to process clinical tissue samples for molecular diagnostics or cellular therapies, and designing targeted nanoparticle vectors that display complex binding dynamics for in vivo detection and therapeutics. Ryan Hayes, PhD (Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) Dr. Hayes focuses on improving the accuracy of computational protein design to enable more efficient use of experimental resources. In particular, he develops scalable alchemical methods that allow for the efficient evaluation of free energies of stability or binding for protein design targets. Projects in his group apply these methods to antibody redesign that repurposes old antibodies to target new antigens, and antibody thermostabilization to improve shelf life. These project areas are highly applicable to the design of therapeutic proteins and will benefit from application testbeds targeting diseases of the eye. Todd Holmes, PhD (Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of Physiology & Biophysics) Dr. Holmes’ research focuses on non-image forming vision and phototransduction mechanisms that operate autonomously in central brain neurons. His lab has discovered two novel phototransduction mechanisms that regulate neuronal electrical excitability via Cryptochrome and Rhodopsin 7, evoked by UV and visible light. James Jester, PhD (Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering) Dr. Jester investigates mechanisms of age-related meibomian gland dysfunction and evaporative dry eye syndrome using a variety of imaging techniques. The Jester lab is also examining UVA-riboflavin-induced corneal collagen crosslinking on collagen structure using rabbit models, which is a model for understanding collagen structural aberrations and treating keratoconus. Vladimir Kefalov, PhD (Professor and Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) Dr. Kefalov’s laboratory is interested in the mechanisms that determine the functional properties of the mammalian rod and cone photoreceptors, the cells that initiate visual perception. These studies involve the use of a battery of state-of-the-art tools, from single-cell and isolated retinal electrophysiological recordings, to in vivo electroretinography and behavior experiments with wild type and genetically modified mice to understand the mechanisms that allow rods and cones to mediate our dim-light and bright-light vision, respectively. Dr. Kefalov now has physically relocated to UCI, and his laboratory is in the process of becoming fully functional at UCI. Philip Kiser, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments Physiology and Biophysics and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences). Dr. Kiser studies the enzymes, transporters and binding proteins that are integral to the visual cycle, including RPE65, as well as a variety of other proteins important for the health of the retina. The translational aspect of Dr. Kiser’s work is to use these findings to develop novel therapeutics for currently untreatable retinal diseases. Young-Jik Kwon, PhD (Professor, Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry) Dr. Kwon is an expert on gene therapy and specifically focuses on delivery. His group specializes in non-viral delivery methods through nanoparticle engineering and extracellular vesicle engineering. The combination of these approaches with gene editing and therapeutic proteins should find appropriate testbeds in treating diseases of the eye. Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, FACMG (Professor, Departments of Pathology and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) Dr. La Spada investigates neurodegeneration and the molecular and genetic basis for selective vulnerability in different neurological disorders. His funded research pertaining to the retina focuses on the cellular and molecular basis of retinal and cerebellar degeneration in Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7). His laboratory is fully established and functional in UCI. David Lyon, PhD (Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology) The Lyon lab relates structure to function in the mammalian visual cortex and thalamus, with particular emphasis on the organization of cortical areas, how modules within each area derive their functional characteristics, and the detailed circuitry underlying sensory capabilities of particular neuron subtypes, such as inhibitory neurons. Han Li, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biomedical Engineering) Dr. Li’s research focuses on metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, leveraging protein evolution and design strategies to improve enzymes. Her main contribution to the field is the establishment of strategies to reprogram enzyme cofactor specificity for metabolic rewiring of cells. These strategies can support therapeutic protein and enzyme engineering with opportunities in translational vision research. Rachel Martin, PhD (Professor, Department of Chemistry) The Martin lab uses NMR methodology to study structural proteins of lens crystallins. Structural information about the native crystallin oligomers and the aggregates formed when this system breaks down (cataract) are being evaluated to gain understanding of cataract formation and possible non-surgical interventions. Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD (Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Director of the BCTVR) Dr. Palczewski is an internationally recognized vision researcher who has made seminal contributions to our understanding of rhodopsin and the molecular basis of visual transduction. His laboratory also focuses on the mechanism of rhodopsin inactivation and restoration of the cGMP level, similarities and differences between rod and cone cell phototransduction, noninvasive imaging of the retina to assess retinal health and metabolism, and translational research and drug discovery for the prevention and/or treatment of retinal degenerative diseases. Brian Paegal, PhD (Professor, Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering) Dr. Paegel studies and applies the principles of miniaturization, which have driven revolutions in semiconductor microfabrication and genome sequencing, to chemical synthesis, biomolecular synthesis, screening, and analysis, which are applicable to translational vision research. Eric Pearlman, PhD (Professor, Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Physiology and Biophysics, and Director of the Institute for Immunology) Dr. Pearlman’s research focuses on innate immune responses in the cornea, especially the role of Toll-like Receptors, a family of pathogen receptors expressed in the cornea. Dr. Pearlman was the first to demonstrate that activation of these receptors by microbial ligands can induce keratitis. In addition, the Pearlman lab examines innate immunity and the role of neutrophils and inflammatory monocytes as regulatory and effector cells in bacterial and fungal corneal infections. Jennifer Prescher, PhD (Professor, Departments of Chemistry, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences) Dr. Prescher engineers proteins, enzymes, and small molecules that collectively act as versatile tools for visualizing cellular networks in real time—and with molecular precision—in physiologically relevant environments including ocular tissues. Magdalene Seiler, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) The goal of research in the Seiler lab is to reverse vision loss in chronic disease stages of retinal degeneration using retinal transplantation. They have developed a treatment based on transplanting sheets of stem cell-derived retina, called retinal organoids, to the back of the eye. Xiaoyu Shi, PhD (Assistant Professor, Departments of Developmental and Cell Biology, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering) Dr. Shi’s long-term interests are in developing new imaging and spatial omics approaches and using them to understand the mechanisms of disease. Her lab’s latest method is Label- Retention Expansion Microscopy (LR-ExM) for molecular resolution imaging. As a powerful and economic imaging approach, it quickly gained popularity in neuroscience, cancer biology, and developmental biology. This imaging method provides opportunities to analyze and visualize how biomolecules, both engineered and natural, function in cellular contexts, with opportunities for application to the vision field. Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD (Associate Professor, Departments Physiology and Biophysics and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) Dr. Skowronska-Krawczyk’s scientific interest is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related eye diseases by studying how processes regulating gene expression in aging affect cellular, metabolic, and transcriptional programs. Her laboratory is fully established and functional at UCI. Douglas J. Tobias, PhD (Professor, Department of Chemistry) The Tobias lab uses computational modeling and biophysical experiments to gain insight into cataract formation on the molecular level that could ultimately guide the development of new therapies for cataract prevention and treatment. The primary hypothesis driving the proposed research is that altered protein-protein interactions lead to aggregation of the crystallins, which in turn leads to loss of transparency in the lens. Xiangmin Xu, PhD (Professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology) Dr. Xu's interests are in neural circuitry, which applies to understanding the neurobiology of sensory perception, learning and memory, and epilepsy. His research is focused on understanding cell-type specific cortical circuit organization and function, using combined approaches of electrophysiology, optical stimulation, and imaging, molecular genetics, and viral tracing.