CVS Vision Research Symposium 2009

January 9, 2009

The CVS Vision Research Symposium was a well-attended event that was the first of many expected future symposia, and focused on the scope of vision research performed at UC Davis. Clinicians from the UC Davis Medical Center, as well as researchers from UC Davis, UCSF, the NIH, and Australian National University attended and gave a talks on a variety of subjects, including cellular mechanisms of vision-related cells, clinical applications of retinal imaging technologies and electroretinogram measurements, systems and cognitive interpretation of visual cues, and ideas on the evolution of vision structures.

January 10, 2009

The Center for Visual Sciences held the first Vision Research Symposium to demonstrate the scope of vision science practiced by UC Davis researchers and their collaborators. The CVS extends gratitude to those who attended the symposium, coming from the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento regions, as well as from across the country and Australia. Overall about 65 people attended the symposium for the full day, with many others stopping by with interest in a few of the events.

The symposium started with topics and discussion revolving around approaches to clinical and therapeutic problems in vision science. Dr. Susanna Park introduced new high-resolution imaging techniques for viewing retinal degeneration in patients, leading into a fascinating demonstration by Dr. Min Zhao on cellular guidance in corneal wounds using endogenous electrical fields present in wounds. These and other talks lead up to the presentation by Dr. Tingrui Pan on his work in developing special pressure sensing contact lenses in the attempts to tackle basic questions of drainage in patients suffering glaucoma. There has been interest in the function of non-photoreceptor cells and their roles in light detection, and Dr. Copenhagen from UCSF demonstrated the role of melanopsin-based responses to light in mice lacking photoreceptors.

The first keynote address by Dr. Trevor Lamb was the last of the morning talks, and detailed the use and analysis of electroretinographic recordings in the assessment of retinal function. Dr. Lamb has along with colleagues developed breakthrough metrics for eliciting photoreceptor function in the electroretinogram. This fascinating talk outlined methods for recording ERG signals, the underlieing physiological occurrences behind parts of the ERG, and changes to these features in response to light adaptation.

At the catered lunch following the keynote, attendees discussed the morning presentations. Posters were set up throughout the conference building and lecture room, and people gathered around and discussed the information presented on them.

After lunch, many individuals joined to see the financial situations affecting the National Eye Institute. Dr. Mariani outlined the breakdown of funds and research areas supported by the NEI, and showed how these funds are appropriated by congress and approved for grants by review committees. Dr. Mariani's talk was a real treat for researchers concerned about the changes going on at the NIH in the current times.

After Mariani's presentation, the faculty talks changed direction and tackled the research done on the systems and psychology involved in visual processing. Dr. Martin Usrey showed his work on plasticity in early stages of the visual pathway, and Dr. Erik Ullian described potential roles of a globally expressed pentraxin protein in the regulation of visual circuit function.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the talk by Dr. David Whitney, demonstrating his research on the very simple but fascinating question of how we perceive objects and movement around us. His presentation was full of visual exercises and illusions that clearly outlined the loss of perceptive accuity as objects of interest are surrounded by others.

The last of the faculty talks blended well with the final Keynote, which together left the attendees with a perspective on the evolution and development of the vertebrate eye. Dr. Ivan Schwab showed species links and potential common ancestry links of how various eyes and nutrient-supplying systems developed over time. His talk was filled with detailed tissue sections showing the morphological changes of shared structures among living species, and discussed some debated hypotheses on common ancestry. This presentation blended right into the final keynote by Dr. Trevor Lamb, discussing the development of the retina and eye as a whole, breaking from the vascularization to focus on the cellular structures of the eye. Ideas on the development of the rod and bipolar cell pathways were outlined along with progression and evolution of opsins and other biochemical properties of the vertebrate eye.

The symposium covered many areas in the visual sciences, and the CVS is fortunate to be able to provide several of the talks as video streams to interested individuals (see links below). Unfortunately technical difficulties prevented all presentations from being available.

This symposium was packed with information on the visual sciences, and is just the first of hopefully many to come in the future. We look forward to outlining research and collaborative opportunities in various fields of vision science, promoting discussion and advancing the field.