The 8th Annual Vision Research Workshop is a trainee run symposium of poster and papers from throughout the Medical School, Wayne State University, Henry Ford Hospital and Oakland University.

The Vision Research Workshop highlights the research accomplishments of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research assistants/associates, residents, clinical fellows and medical students.

This activity has been approved for 3 CME Credits

Robert N. Frank Clinical Translational Lecture:

“Optogenetic approaches for restoring vision”

Zhuo-Hua Pan, Ph.D.

Zhuo-Hua Pan, Ph.D. is the Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Endowed Professor of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences at Wayne State University, and Scientific Director of the Ligon Research Center of Vision at the Kresge Eye Institute. He was trained as retinal electrophysiologist studying visual information processing in the retina. Shortly after joining Wayne State University in 1999, he started to explore new approaches to cure blindness. He is the pioneer in developing optogenetic techniques and the first to apply optogenetics to treat blindness caused by retinal degenerative diseases. He holds multiple patents related to optogenetic therapies. The early IPs developed in his group led to the first clinical trial of optogenetic therapy for treating retinitis pigmentosa in 2015. This group has been continuously working on the development of improved optogenetic tools and treatment strategies. A new startup has been recently launched for advancing the next generation of optogenetic therapies to clinics. He is the recipient of several awards at Wayne State University, including the Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award. He teaches Medical Neuroscience and serves as course director for the Biology of the Eye course.