Oct 02, 2026 | UC Irvine News

---

Celebration of Madeline King's PhD

Madeleine King successfully defended her PhD in Biochemistry, with research focused on developing safer and more precise genome editing technologies. Her work advances base and prime editing tools that could improve the accuracy of future treatments for genetic diseases.

Sep 18, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine

---

PerZeption Awarded NEI Phase 1 SBIR Grant for Age-related Macular Degeneration Study

PerZeption Inc. has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) for the project "Efficient Achromatic and Chromatic Photostress Recovery Assessment for Age-related Macular Degeneration." The study will be performed in collaboration with researchers at the Brunson Center for Translational Vision Research at the University of California, Irvine.

Sep 11, 2026 | UC Irvine School of Medicine

---

Pre-Med Students Spend Summer Immersed in Biomedical Research

UCI’s summer research programs give undergraduate students hands on experience in biomedical research and clinical medicine. This year, 25 students in the HBCU Summer Research Clinical Experience (TRAVIS) Program explored fields including retinal disease, gene editing, and inherited eye disorders while gaining mentorship and research experience.

Aug 13, 2026 | UC Irvine News

---

Knights Templar Eye Foundation Leaders Visit UCI to Celebrate Career-Starter Grant Recipient and Meet Program Alumni

Postdoctoral scholar Yexuan Cao, MD, PhD, of the Rui Chen Lab, receives $100,000 grant to study a newly identified gene linked to inherited retinal disease

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.

May 08, 2024 | UCI School of Medicine

---

Congratulations to our 2024 Awardees

David Salom, PhD is announced to be the winner of the 2024 UCI School of Medicine Outstanding Career Scientist Research Award! Emily Tom, MD, PhD student received the 2024 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award Honorable Mention! Congratulations, CTVR members, we are very proud!

Mar 28, 2024 | UCI School of Medicine

---

UCI researchers find potential new gene-independent therapy for retinal degeneration

A research team led by the UC Irvine School of Medicine has identified a potential new gene-independent therapeutic strategy for treating the millions of people worldwide who suffer from retinal degeneration, a group of diseases that can lead to vision loss.

Jan 17, 2024 | UCI School of Medicine

---

School of Medicine receives prestigious grant from Research to Prevent Blindness

The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine has received a prestigious Unrestricted Grant from the nonprofit organization Research to Prevent Blindness. The five-year, $575,000 grant will support eye research conducted by the Department of Ophthalmology.

Aug 29, 2023 | UCI School of Medicine

---

UC Irvine researchers discover a nanobody which may lead to treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa

A special antibody derived from llamas — called a nanobody — can stop the misfolding and the activation of Rhodopsin, a molecule whose mutations can lead to blindness.