Funds are requested to support The Second International Biennial Symposium on Ocular Regeneration to be held October 20th in the Starr Center for Scientific Communications at the Schepens Eye Research Institute (SERI). The meeting is co-organized by Drs. Michael Young PhD, Director of Minda de Gunzburg Center for Retinal Regeneration, Co-chair of the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology Ocular Regenerative Medical Institute, and Demetrios G. Vavvas MD, PhD, Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology Ocular Regenerative Medical Institute. This meeting will build on the strong successes of the First Biennial Meeting held in October 2014. Degenerative eye diseases such as AMD and retinitis pigmentosa affect millions of people in USA and the world and result in the majority of irreversible blindness in the developed world. Ophthalmology has been at the forefront of regeneration and stem cell for degenerative conditions with the first in man embryonic stem cell transplants for Stargardt?s and ?dry? Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and provides the unique ability to directly observe and monitor micro-anatomy and function. The dawn of this new progress makes this symposium a timely and important meeting. The goal of this conference is to stimulate discussion and collaborations aimed at elucidating the mechanisms and obstacles to successful regeneration in order to identify new means to treat, cure, and ultimately prevent blinding degenerative eye conditions. This meeting will be distinct in its format, allowing significant time for discussion and inclusion of speakers who are not in the ophthalmology field but study the principles of development and regeneration. It will also aim to have active trainee participation and to inspire the next generation of ocular regeneration scientists. Dr. Joan Miller, Henry Willard Williams Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Chief of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts General Hospital, will deliver a summary and concluding remarks. Topics to be covered include: anterior segment regeneration, iPS derived retinal pigment epithelial cell transplantation in humans, RP gene therapy, 3D ex-vivo retina construct, lessons learned from attempts in motor neuron neuroprotection and regeneration. Travel awards will be provided to attract graduate students and fellows, with a particular emphasis on under- represented minorities and persons with disabilities.
Recent progress on basic science of regeneration has increased hope that restorative therapies maybe in the future of millions of Americans that suffer from degenerative eye conditions such as AMD. The objective of this symposium is to bring together clinicians and basic scientists from the regeneration field in order to stimulate open and thoughtful discussions and inspire the young generation of scientists to be involved in the field and form collaborations to accelerate cures for blinding eye disease that will help not only to stop disease progression but to also restore vision loss.
| Diaz, J Daniel; Wang, Jay C; Oellers, Patrick et al. (2018) Imaging the Deep Choroidal Vasculature Using Spectral Domain and Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography. J Vitreoretin Dis 2:146-154 |
| Miller, Joan W; Bagheri, Saghar; Vavvas, Demetrios G (2017) Advances in Age-related Macular Degeneration Understanding and Therapy. US Ophthalmic Rev 10:119-130 |
