Training Program in Translational Vision Sciences

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Project Summary/Abstract Translating basic vision research to the clinic progresses at an astounding rate, but we still have a long way to go in developing treatments and potential cures for blinding vision diseases. The advancements in methods, e.g., viral vectors, genetic approaches, single cell transcriptomics, imaging modalities, optogenetics, and stem cell-based approaches, have changed our ability to understand the visual system in health and disease. The major aim of the University of Minnesota’s program in the Training in Translational Vision Sciences is to prepare predoctoral trainees for careers as independent scientists with excellent knowledge of basic science, and importantly, provide connections to clinical problems and real patients with vision-threatening disorders. The 18 training faculty are a well-funded, productive group of vision scientists with a commitment to training the next generation of vision scientists. Ten of these 18 have funding from the National Eye Institute, but all preceptors have well-funded laboratories and strong publication records. The major areas of research focus include real- time imaging, visual processing in human and animal models, vascular biology, and development. These focus areas are typically coupled with a strong translational objective focused on developing new strategies to improve vision in individuals with significant visual impairment. We are requesting funding to support five predoctoral candidates who have entered into the laboratories of one of the vision scientist preceptors. Predoctoral trainees will come from one of four graduate programs: “Neuroscience”, “Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology & Genetics”, or “Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics” in the medical school, or the Graduate Program in Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts. With the focus on translational vision science, we have greatly increased the collaborations between basic scientists and the clinical faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences (DOVN). Several new key elements of the Translational Vision Research Training program include a newly designed course for trainees, Critical and Translational Reasoning in Visual Science, co-taught by the training faculty and the clinical faculty in the DOVN. All trainees must attend and present their research at our annual Spring Symposium, where nationally known and in-house experts in vision science present their most recent research along with our trainees and faculty as well as participate in one of several vision-related journal clubs. The Program Directors and Executive Committee select and evaluate trainees for this program. The program directors are Linda McLoon PhD and Harald Junge PhD, both in the DOVN. We have built in a Program Director transition plan, with Drs. McLoon and Junge sharing the position during the first two years of the program, and with Dr. Junge taking over as Principal Investigator in years three to five. As we move toward increasingly collaborative research between our basic and clinically trained faculty members, the training we provide will maximize our ability to prepare vision scientists with a multi-disciplinary education needed to meet the “audacious goals” of the NEI - focused on preventing, treating, and rehabilitating blinding eye disease.