10th Annual Bench to Bedside Symposium

7:30 - 8:25 AM: Registration / Continental Breakfast

Lobby and Dining Room

8:25 - 8:30 AM: Welcome

Vladimir Kefalov, Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, Physiology & Biophysics; Vice Chair of Research, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute

8:30 - 09:50 AM: Session #1 

Visual Psychophysics and Perception

Moderator: Samuel Spiegel, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI 

• Advanced imaging of the visual pathways: structure-function correlations | Vivek Patel, M.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• Human color vision and perceptual psychophysics | Kimberly Jameson, Ph.D., Project Scientist; Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, UCI
• Oriented blur is associated with biases in perceived motion | Cherlyn Ng Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cognitive Science, UCI
• Adaptive optics imaging, chorioretinal disease, and retinal hemodynamics | Yuhua Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, UCLA Doheny Eye Institute

9:50 - 10:20 AM: Morning Break and Poster Viewing

Atrium

10:20 - 11:55 AM: Session #2

Aging and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Moderator: Stephanie Lu, M.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute

• Tribute to M. Cristina Kenney, M.D., Ph.D. | Baruch D. Kuppermann, M.D., Ph.D., Steinert Endowed Professor; Chair, Department of Ophthalmology; Director, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• Investigating age-related alterations in cell membrane structure and function as a contributing factor to AMD risk | Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Ph.D., Assistant Professor; Physiology & Biophysics/Department of Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• Episodic memory and the aging brain | Michael Yassa, Ph.D., Associate Dean, Office of DEI; Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Neurology, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Psychological Sciences; Director, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Director, UCI Brain Initiative; Director, UCI Translational Neuroscience Laboratory
• Mitochondria: the retina’s Achilles’ heel in age-related macular degeneration | Deborah Ferrington, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, UCLA Doheny Eye Institute

11:55 - 1:25 PM: Lunch

Dining Room

1:25 - 2:25 PM: Session #3

Retinal Vasculature in Disease

Moderator: Kapil Mishra, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute 

• Opioid signaling in retinal vasculature leading to the promotion of retinopathy | Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., Professor-in-Residence; Department of Medicine; Hematology / Oncology, UCI
• Stiffening of retinal vessels threatens vision in diabetes | Kaustabh Ghosh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, UCLA Doheny Eye Institute
• Bioactive extracellular vesicles from a subset of endothelial progenitor cells rescue retinal ischemia and neurodegeneration | Kyle Marra, M.D., Ph.D., Resident Physician, Ophthalmology, UCSD Shiley Eye Institute (July 2024)

2:25 - 2:55 PM: Afternoon Break and Poster Viewing

Atrium

2:55 - 3:55 PM: Session #4

Glaucoma

Moderator: Andrew Smith, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute

• Activation of the cellular stress response to protect retinal ganglion cells from glaucomatous damage | Natik Piri, Ph.D., Professor-in-Residence, Ophthalmology, UCLA Stein Eye Institute
• Development of mRNA-based lipid nanoparticles delivery system for genome editing targeting glaucoma | Gulab Zode, Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• Aqueous humor outflow imaging: relevance for glaucoma treatment | Alex Huang, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Alfred Vogt Chair in Ophthalmology, UCSD Shiley Eye Institute

3:55 - 4:55 PM: Session #5

Ocular Surface and Dry Eye Disease

Moderator: Marjan Farid, M.D., Clinical Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute

• Advancements in dry eye disease | Soroosh Behshad, M.D., Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• The effects of age and dysfunction on meibomian gland population dynamics | James Jester, Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology, UCI Gavin Herbert Eye Institute
• New directions for identification of tear biomarkers of disease | Sarah Hamm-Alvarez, Ph.D., Professor, Ophthalmology and Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Associate Dean for Basic and Translational Research, USC Keck Institute

4:55 - 6:00 PM: Best Poster Awards and Reception

Atrium