June 2021 Newsletter
Feature Story

Dr. Gloria Chiu pictured with a grateful patient. Maria was losing her eyesight due to keratoconus before she met Dr. Chiu. She was ultimately treated with customized PROSE scleral lenses, which helped to restore her vision and significantly improve her quality of life. 

HIGHLIGHTS
Faculty Promotion
Welcome New Faculty
Dr. Linda Lam was promoted to the rank of Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, effective June 1, 2021.
Dr. Liya Xu joined the USC Roski Eye Institute faculty in June 2021. Dr. Xu’s research concentrates on integrating patient, model systems, and high-content single particle data to translate clinically observed correlations into a mechanistic understanding of the physical and biological underpinning of the dynamics of ocular cancers, specifically retinoblastoma. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from USC.

Awards and Grants
Kimberly Gokoffski, MD, PhD, received the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Fellowship Award
Project Title: Electric Fields Collaborate with Rac1 to Direct Optic Nerve Regeneration
Award Date: July 1, 2021
Read more about Dr. Gokoffski's award here.
 
Sarah Hamm-Alvarez, PhD, received research award funding from Oyster Point Pharma
Project Title: Characterization of Recombinant Protein Expression in HEK293 T Cells
Award Date: June 1, 2021

In the News
Yahoo! Life quoted Annie Nguyen, MD, on eye damage caused by the sun.


Faculty Publications
Since June 1, 2021 our faculty have published 25 papers. Eligible publications included those that were e-published in June:

Faculty Publications:


1.     Jesse Berry, MD, co-authored the paper, “The utility of Recycled Eyeglasses: A Pilot Study at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services” in the International Journal of Medical Students.

2.     Linda Lam, MD, MBA, co-authored the paper, “Digital technology, tele-medicine and artificial intelligence in ophthalmology: A global perspective” in Progress and Retinal and Eye Research.

3.     Andrew Moshfeghi, MD, MBA; Hossein Ameri, MD, PhD; and Mahnaz Shahidi, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Relating Retinal Vascular Oxygen Saturation and Microvasculature Morphology at Progressive Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy” in Translational Vision Science & Technology.

4.     Aaron Nagiel, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Small-molecule inhibition of Lats kinases may promote Yap-dependent proliferation in postmitotic mammalian tissues” in Nature Communications.

5.     Brian Song, MD, MPH; Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD; Brandon Wong, MD; and Grace Richter, MD, MPH, co-authored the paper, “Steps to Measurement Floor of an Optical Microangiography Device in Glaucoma” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

6.     Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “White Matter Disruption in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Results from ENIGMA Pediatric Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury” in Neurology.

7.     Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “A novel method of screening combinations of angiostatics identifies bevacizumab and temsirolimus as synergistic inhibitors of glioma-induced angiogenesis” in PLoS One.

8.     Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Prioritizing Genetic Contributors to Cortical Alterations in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Using Imaging Transcriptomics. Cereb Cortex” in Cerebral Cortex.

9.     Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Impairment of episodic memory in genetic frontotemporal dementia: A GENFI study” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

10.  Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Regional relationships between CSF VEGF levels and Alzheimer's disease brain biomarkers and cognition” in Neurobiology of Aging.

11.  Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “The Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS): Framework and methodology” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

12.  Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Tractography-Pathology Correlations in Traumatic Brain Injury: A TRACK-TBI Study” in the Journal of Neurotrauma.

13.  Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “A blood screening tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease among community-dwelling Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites: A method for increasing representation of diverse populations in clinical research” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

14.  Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Morphological Development Trajectory and Structural Covariance Network of the Human Fetal Cortical Plate during the Early Second Trimester” in Cerebral Cortex.

15.  Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD; Brandon Wong, MD; Brian Song, MD, MPH; Xuejuan Jiang, PhD; and Grace Richter, MD, MPH, co-authored the paper, “Hemiretinal Asymmetry in Peripapillary Vessel Density in Healthy, Glaucoma Suspect, and Glaucoma Eyes” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.



Affiliate Faculty Publications:

1.     Cheng-Ming Chuong, PhD, , co-authored the paper, “Symmetry breaking of tissue mechanics in wound induced hair follicle regeneration of laboratory and spiny mice” in Nature Communications.

2.     Shikun He, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Human RGR Gene and Associated Features of Age-related Macular Degeneration Revealed in Models of Retina-Choriocapillaris Atrophy” in the American Journal of Pathology.

3.     Young-Kwon Hong, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Serial intravital imaging captures dynamic and functional endothelial remodeling with single-cell resolution” in JCI Insight.

4.     Roberta McKean-Cowdin, PhD, co-authored the paper, “The International Family Study of Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts: Design and Methods” in the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal.

5.     John Ringman, MD, MS, co-authored the paper, “‘My backpack is so heavy’: Experiences of Latino caregivers of family with early-onset Alzheimer's” in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

6.     Danny JJ Wang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Water exchange rate across the blood-brain barrier is associated with CSF amyloid-β 42 in healthy older adults” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

7.     Danny JJ Wang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Assessment of carotid stiffness by measuring carotid pulse wave velocity using a single-slice oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI” in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

8.     Danny JJ Wang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Semiautomatic cerebrovascular territory mapping based on dynamic ASL MR angiography without vessel-encoded labeling” in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

9.     Danny JJ Wang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Massively parallel functional photoacoustic computed tomography of the human brain” in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

10.  Danny JJ Wang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Optimization of adiabatic pulses for pulsed arterial spin labeling at 7 tesla: Comparison with pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.