“Optogenetic Gene Therapy for Vision Restoration”

Dr. Zhuo-Hua Pan received his B.S. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, his M.S. degree from the Institute of Biophysics of Chinese Academic of Science, and his Ph.D. in biophysics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He worked as an instructor and then an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School from 1991-1999. He joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1999. He is currently Scientific Director of the Ligon Research Center of Vision and the Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Endowed Professor in Vision and Blindness Research for the WSU Department of Ophthalmology and Kresge Eye Institute. Dr. Pan’s research focuses on the basic mechanisms of visual information processing in the retina and on the development of novel approaches for treating blindness caused by retinal degeneration. His work has been published in many high-prestige journals, including Nature, Neuron, PNAS, and Journal of Neuroscience, among others. His pioneer work on optogenetics and the development of optogenetic gene therapy for vision restoration have been widely reported by the scientific community and news media, such as NIH press release, Research Highlights in Nature, Scientific American, New Scientist, New York Times, and STAT. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including Faculty Research Excellence Award at WSU School of Medicine, WSU Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award, and Hope for Vision Visionary Award.