Chen, Jeannie
Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience
The major focus of my laboratory is to study sensory neuron signaling and mechanisms of retinal degeneration and neurodegeneration using cell culture and rodent models. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, we deciphered basic mechanisms of sensory neuron signal transduction and disease pathogenesis in retinal degeneration and neurodegeneration where protein mis-folding and aggregation is an underlying cause of disease.
Gnedeva, Ksenia
Our perception of the environment relies on specialized cellular receptors residing in epithelial sensory organs. While olfactory and gustatory receptor cells are naturally reproduced throughout life in order to sustain the senses of smell and taste, age-related degeneration of retinal, auditory, and vestibular sensory organs is largely irreversible in humans. In the Gnedeva laboratory, we interrogate how molecular signaling and tissue mechanics control embryonic sensory organ growth and how the developmental programs of self-renewal and differentiation can be re-initiated in the mammalian inner ear after damage. Although the focus of our research is on hearing and balance restoration, our lab has broader interest in the common mechanisms that suppress regeneration in specialized sensory tissues.
Hirsch, Judith A.
Gabilan Distinguished Professorship in Science and Engineering and Professor of Biological Sciences
Our laboratory studies the thalamus, the interface between neocortex and the sensory periphery. Thalamus was once regarded as a simple gatekeeper, passively relaying information during waking and shielding neocortex from disturbance during sleep, but this is an impoverished view. We explore how thalamus, itself, contributes to sensory integration. In particular, we study the structure of neural circuits in the visual part of thalamus, how these operate during vision and how they extract and recode information from the eye. Our work shows how thalamus might contribute to visual processing by, for example, sharpening the visual image and increasing the efficiency of the neural code. Because circuits in different parts of thalamus are similar, our work pertains to thalamic function in general.
Humayun, Mark
Professor of Ophthalmology, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
Retinal research to restore vision using bioelectronics and stem cells
Itti, Laurent
Professor of Computer Science and Psychology
The main fundamental research focus of the lab is in using computational modeling to gain insight into biological brain function. Thus, we study biologically-plausible brain models, and we compare the predictions of model simulations to empirical measurements from living systems. The brain subsystem towards which most of our efforts are focused is the visual system. Our modeling efforts range from fairly detailed models of small neuronal circuits, such as a single hypercolumn of orientation-selective neurons in primary visual cortex, to large-scale models embodying several million highly-simplified neurons to explore mechanisms of visual attention, gaze control, object recognition, and goal-oriented scene understanding. Further, we strive to employ modeling principles which are mathematically optimal in some task- and goal-dependent sense. Thus, we are interested in investigating the tasks and conditions for which the biological brain approaches the theoretical limits of information processing.
Lee, Sun Young
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Physiology and Neuroscience
LeeRetinaLab investigates the pathobiology of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, with a focus on developing extracellular vesicle (EV)-based therapeutics. Our team has expertise in small EV (sEV) isolation, characterization, and bioengineering, and we regularly work with relevant animal models. To optimize sEV-based intraocular therapies, we apply both conventional and advanced technologies, including single-particle analysis, nano-flow cytometry, digital PCR, cryo-EM, and multi-omics approaches (transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics, and metabolomics). We take a multidisciplinary approach and collaborate closely with experts in bioengineering, regenerative medicine, and gene therapy to accelerate translational outcomes and therapeutic innovation in retinal disease research.
