About
Research
Labs
Education
May 11, 2026 | Center for Translational Vision Research
BCTVR Hosts Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Connection Event at UC Irvine
The Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research (BCTVR) hosted the Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Connection event at UC Irvine, bringing together researchers and community members for presentations on breakthrough vision research and emerging therapies for blindness. The event featured talks from five UC Irvine vision experts.
May 04, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine
Yexuan Cao, MD, PhD Awarded Knights Templar Eye Foundation 2026-27 Career-Starter Research Grant
Dr. Yexuan Cao, a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Irvine School of Medicine and BCTVR, received a 2026–2027 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Career-Starter Research Grant to support research on the genetic causes of childhood-onset blindness.
Apr 30, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine
Marco Bassetto, PharmD, PhD, Awarded Grant From BrightFocus Foundation’s Macular Degeneration Research Program
UCI researcher Marco Bassetto, PharmD, PhD, has been awarded a BrightFocus Foundation grant to support innovative research aimed at advancing new treatments for macular degeneration.
Apr 21, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine
Marco Bassetto Named 2026 Beckman Scholar
Marco Bassetto, from Dr. Philip Kiser’s lab, has been selected as a 2026 Beckman Scholar at UC Irvine, with his fellowship beginning in July 2026. Chosen from a highly competitive pool, Marco is recognized for his promising work on early detection and treatment of retinal diseases.
Mar 23, 2026 | UCI School of Medicine
Lilangi Ediriwickrema, MD, Elected to the NEI Council of Vision Editors Fellow Program
Lilangi Ediriwickrema, MD, was selected by the National Eye Institute for its Council of Vision Editors Fellow Program, a two-year fellowship focused on peer review and academic publishing in vision science.
Mar 06, 2026 | UCI School of Medicine
Gulab Zode, PhD, Receives Inaugural Cristina Kenney Grant for Vision-Saving Research
The first Kenney Research Grant was awarded to Gulab Zode, PhD, for his work addressing the unsolved problem of vision loss in glaucoma patients that continues even when eye pressure is well controlled.
Feb 17, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine
Inside Falling Leaves: New Facility Brings 13 Research Programs to Cure the ‘Incurable’
Palczewski and his team are using a combination of gene therapy and noninvasive imaging to develop cures for inherited blindness. So far, they’ve discovered how to reverse and prevent cell degeneration in the eyes and are now working to develop a method to guide this therapy to specific cells in need of correction.
Jan 23, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine
Pioneering Research to Prevent and Reverse Blindness
Research led by Frans Vinberg, PhD and colleagues at UC Irvine demonstrates that human retinal cells can regain light responses after prolonged loss of blood flow, challenging long-standing assumptions about irreversible vision loss. This work establishes critical preclinical methods and infrastructure that support new therapeutic strategies to prevent and potentially reverse blindness.
Jan 13, 2026 | UC Irvine News
How These Long-Living Sharks Keep Sharp Vision for Centuries
Research led by Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD, shows that Greenland sharks—among the longest-lived vertebrates—retain structurally intact and functional retinas well beyond 100 years of age. Their remarkable visual preservation appears tied to ongoing activation of DNA-repair and protective molecular pathways, providing new insight into mechanisms that may counteract age-related retinal degeneration.
Jan 07, 2026 | UC Irvine Health Affairs
Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk Awarded RPB Catalyst Award for Innovative AMD Lipid Metabolism Research
Dr. Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk has received the Dr. H. James & Carole Free Catalyst Award for Innovative Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Her project explores lipid metabolism and omega-3 fatty acids as early intervention strategies to preserve retinal health during aging.