Graduate Center for Vision Research
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CLEK (COLLABORATIVE LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF KERATOCONUS)
ATS (AMBLYOPIA TREATMENT STUDY)

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VisioNYC       

A meeting for Greater New York Vision Scientists


Josh Sanes (Harvard)
"Synaptic specificity in the retina and its projections"

Michelle Basso (Wisconsin)
"A probabilistic strategy for understanding action choice"

Monday evening, March 22, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

6:00 - 6:30 Arrival and Refreshments
6:30 - 8:00 Talks
8:00 - 9:00 Light Supper, Drink, and Conversation

Graduate Center for Vision Research
SUNY College of Optometry
33 West 42 St., 2nd floor
New York, NY 10036
(between 5th and 6th Ave.)

VisioNYC       
Monday, June 8, 2009

A meeting for Greater New York Vision Scientists, at:

SUNY College of Optometry
33 West 42 St (north side of street, midway between 5th and 6th Aves,
opposite Bryant park), 2nd floor
New York NY 10036

6:00-6:30 - arrival and refreshments
6:30-8:00  Talks -

Systems talk:    
Carl Olson  (Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University)
What Neurons in Monkey Inferotemporal Cortex Tell Us about Human Perception
Cell/Molecular talk:  
Anand Swaroop   (NEI / NIH)
Genesis of a Mammalian Photoreceptor: From biology to treatment paradigms

8:00-9:00 - light supper, drink, and conversation
The series is sponsored by the NEI training grants awarded to Columbia,
Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York University.
------
Directions to SUNY College of Optometry

- Take B, D train to 42nd street and stop at Bryant park ; entrance to SUNY
is midway on 42nd street, betwe 5th and 6th avenues, opposite
Bryant Park.
- Take 4,6 train to 42nd street and stop at Grand Central Station
- Take 1,2 train to 42nd street and stop at Times square

Badges will be issued for all names (not emails) on the listserv
list that you pick up at the entry of SUNY/Optometry.

If you do not update your listserv entry, you will have to wait
longer to get a badge, bring an ID and otherwise be slowed down.

You can update your name as follows:
Step 1: Go to https://email.rutgers.edu/mailman/listinfo/ vision_seminars
Step 2: The very last entry on the following page will permit you to modify
your listserv account.
The text reads:
"To unsubscribe from Vision_seminars, get a password reminder, or change
your subscription options enter your subscription email address:"
Step 3: Enter your email, then submit. It may ask you for a password or
email it to you.
Step 4: Eventually you get to a page where you can enter your name on the
right side. If your name is there, do nothing. Otherwise enter it.
Hit submit. Respond to the confirming email you may get from the listserv.
Step 5: Try not to get stuck, but if you do, email axon@cortex.rutgers.edu
for help.

Carol Mason, Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology,
Neuroscience, and Ophthalmic Science
Co-Director, Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior

Mail address:

Department of Pathology and Cell Biology
College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University
14-509 P&S Bldg.
630 W. 168th St.
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212-305-2105
FAX: 212-305-5498
cam4@columbia.edu

ARVO/VSS 2008 Practice Talks and Posters, Noon, April 24, Room 1401

Click here for details (PDF)

VisionNYC Meets Mon., Oct. 15 at SUNY Optometry

The first meeting of the year of the Greater New York Vision Scientists, VisioNYC, will be held Monday October 15 at SUNY College of Optometry.

33 West 42 St (north side of street, midway between 5th and 6th Aves, opposite Bryant park), 2nd floor
New York NY 10036

6:00-6:30 - arrival and refreshments
6:30-8:00 - Talks - titles to follow
Systems:   Diego Contreras (Penn)
Cell/Molecular:  Jean Bennett (Penn)

7:45 -9:00 - light supper, drink, and conversation
NEXT MEETINGS:   Monday March 10, 2008
                             Monday June 16, 2008

Directions to SUNY College of Optometry

Take B, D train to 42nd street and stop at Bryant park ; entrance to SUNY is midway on 42nd street, betwe 5th and 6th avenues, opposite Bryant Park.

Take 4,6 train to 42nd street and stop at Grand Central Station
Take 1,2 train to 42nd street and stop at Times square
Badges will be issued for all names (not emails) on the listserv list that you pick up at the entry of SUNY/Optometry. If you do not update your listserv entry, you will have to wait longer to get a badge, bring an ID and otherwise be slowed down.

SUNY Graduate Students Receive Award
NEW YORK, NY
June 26, 2007

Zan Pan, M.D., M.S., a full-time graduate student at the SUNY College of Optometry, was recently awarded the prestigious William C. Ezell Fellowship from the American Optometric Foundation. Dr. Pan was awarded the $8,000 fellowship for his research,  “Activity of a Novel Ion Channel Receptor, TRP4 in Dry Eye Corneas”. His achievement will be recognized at the American Academy of Optometry meeting in Tampa, Fl. this Fall.  Dr. Pan is conducting his research under the supervision of Peter Reinach, Ph.D., a research scientist at the College.

Yinan Wang, M.D., also a full-time graduate student, has been awarded $2,500 from the Minnie F. Turner Memorial Fund for Impaired Vision Research. Her research project was entitled, “ Effect of Chromatic Aberration in Normal Trichromats and Dichromats.” Dr. Wang has been working with Philip Kruger, Ph.D, a vision scientist at the College.

SUNY Graduate Student Receives Yager Award

Fan Zhang, a full-time SUNY Optometry graduate student, is the 2006-2007 recipient of the Dean Yager Award for best published research paper by a student. Congratulations to Fan Zhang and her graduate advisor, Dr. Peter Reinach. As the recipient, she will be awarded a plaque in about eight weeks as well as a check for $500 sponsored by the Schnurmacher Institute of Vision Research (SIVR). The winning published paper was:

PKC Isoform–Specific Enhancement of Capacitative Calcium Entry in
Human Corneal Epithelial Cells,
Fan Zhang, Quan Wen, Stefan Mergler, Hua Yang, Zheng Wang, Victor N. Bildin,
and Peter S. Reinach,
IOVS, September 2006, Vol. 47, No. 9

PURPOSE. To determine in human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in mediating epidermal growth factor (EGF)–induced stimulation of store-operated channel (SOC) activity and capacitative calcium entry (CCE).

2007 Verriest Medalist: Barry Lee

The International Colour Vision Society is pleased to announce that the Verriest Medal will be awarded at the 2007 biennial symposium in Belém, Brazil (July 27-31, 2007) to Barry B. Lee, Professor of Biological Sciences at the State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, NY, USA.

This award is bestowed by the Society to honor long-term contributions to the field of color vision. Professor Lee is an innovative multidisciplinary scientist who has had an extraordinary record of productivity. He has made significant contributions to our understanding of basic coding mechanisms in visual processing and is recognized for his efforts at bridging the gap between psychophysics and physiology. In addition, through collaborative efforts, he has been at the center of the great advances that have been made in the last 20 years in unraveling the relations between structure and visual function in the retina. Finally, the Society recognizes his long-term service to the society, as member of the board of directors, meeting organizer and proceedings editor.

More information about the 2007 ICVS biennial symposium in Belem, Brazil, at which Barry Lee will give the Verriest Lecture and the medal will be presented, can be found at www.ufpa.br/icvs2007

SIVR OSA Practice Talks, Th.10/17, 12PM, rm 206

  1. ...ON and OFF S-cone Pathways"...Perimetry in Glaucoma"...the Frequency-doubling Illusion"
  2. ...Ganglion Cell Responses to Natural Stimuli"

Graduate Student Selected to Receive $2100 Summer Research Fellowship from Fight For Sight (Research Division, Prevent Blindness America)

A second year full-time graduate student, Zhaoxu Yuan, has received a $2100 summer research fellowship for the research project 'Can a mitogenic response to EGF in rat retinal ganglion cells be dependent on capacitative calcium entry (CCE)?' Dr. Peter Reinach is the graduate student advisor.

SUNY Honors Leading Researchers in Medicine, Engineering and Science

Faculty scientists generate jobs and economic growth in New York

Albany, NY - State University of New York Chancellor Robert L. King today honored 38 of New York's most important and innovative scientists for their research in medicine, public health, genetics, engineering, environmental studies, physics, computer science and other fields at the second "Chancellor's Recognition Dinner Honoring Research in Science, Engineering and Medicine," held at State University Plaza in Albany.

"These award-winning faculty members of the State University of New York are working to make scientific breakthroughs that will prevent or heal medical disorders and ailments, protect the environment, create new pharmaceuticals and help us understand the origins of the universe," said Chancellor King.

"These scientists represent SUNY's world-class faculty that has garnered more than $700 million for 9,000 research projects that are supporting 21,000 jobs in New York State," added King.

The 38 men and women honored represent 23 SUNY campuses including university centers, four-year colleges, health science centers, specialized colleges, colleges of technology and statutory colleges. They are responsible for generating nearly $70 million in research funding. Their research spans 21 disciplines ranging from biology, chemistry, geology and physics to medicine, computer sciences, materials science and engineering.

The scientists have received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA), Pfizer, the American Heart Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Wildlife Conservation Society, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, the American Chemical Society and others.

Dr. Quasim Zaidi is a Professor in the Department of Vision Sciences at the College of Optometry. Internationally known for his research in the computational neurosciences and, particularly, for his investigations of processing of color and texture information in the human brain, Dr. Zaidi is principle investigator on two National Eye Institute (NEI) awards. The first concerns the perception of three-dimensional shapes, and includes work on heuristics, prior assumptions, and the physical information contained in contour, texture and motion cues. The second concerns color perception in natural settings, and includes work on heuristics-based algorithms for color constancy, and on the geometrical structure of color representation. Dr. Zaidi also works on motion perception in complex configurations.

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Professor Qasim Zaidi to Receive Chancellor's Research Recognition Award

Congratulations are in order for Professor Qasim Zaidi on being selected as a recipient of this year's Chancellor's Research Recognition Award. Qasim has been invited to a dinner honoring researchers in Science, Medicine and Engineering that will take place on Oct. 24, 2002 at the State University Plaza in Albany.

Who Is Qasim Zaidi?
Dr. Zaidi is a Professor in the Department of Vision Sciences at the State University of New York, State College of Optometry. He holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Chicago (1984) and was a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories. The National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health has supported his research continuously since 1988. Since receiving his doctorate, Dr. Zaidi has written over 50 full-length scientific papers and book chapters for publication in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, including prestigious journals such as Journal of the Optical Society of America, Perception, and Vision Research. He is the editor of two books due to be published in 2002: Three-Dimensional Space Perception (sole editor, Springer-Verlag) and Classical Articles in Color Vision (John-Wiley). He has made over 80 presentations (published abstracts) at scientific meetings both in the United States and abroad. From 1997-2001, Dr. Zaidi served as a permanent member of the Visual Sciences B Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, Division of Research Grants. In 2001, Dr. Zaidi was named a Fellow in the Optical Society of America.

Summary of Qasim Zaidi Research
Dr. Zaidi is known internationally for his research in the computational neurosciences, particularly for his investigations of the processing of color and texture information in the human brain. Currently, he is principle investigator (PI) on two National Eye Institute (NEI) awards: (1) Mechanisms of color detection, induction, and adaptation and, (2) Neural basis of shape from texture. In graduate school at the University of Chicago, Dr. Zaidi did research on the retinal and pre-retinal processes of color vision, and in his post-doc at Bell Labs he worked on cortical mechanisms of color induction. Since then his interests have shifted to the cues and strategies used in visual inferences, and to neural decoding problems. At present, he has two main research projects each funded by an NEI grant. The first concerns the perception of three-dimensional shapes, and includes work on heuristics, prior assumptions, and the physical information contained in contour, texture and motion cues. The second concerns color perception in natural settings, and includes work on heuristics-based algorithms for color constancy, and on the geometrical structure of color representation. I also work on motion perception in complex configurations.

Dr. Jerome M. Feldman, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research
Phone: (212) 938-5540; Fax (212) 938-5754; e-mail: jfeldman@sunyopt.edu

Ms. Debra Berger, Senior Staff Associate
Phone: (212) 938-5544; Fax (212) 938-5754; e-mail: berger@sunyopt.edu

Ms. Zenia Tarkiewicz, Staff Assistant
Phone: (212) 938-5540; Fax (212) 938-5754; e-mail: zenia@sunyopt.edu