May 2021 Newsletter
Feature Story

Two USC Roski Eye Institute researchers are developing signals that could bring color vision and improved clarity to prosthesis for the blind.

HIGHLIGHTS
New Director of Education
Welcome New Faculty
As of May 1, Dr. Brian Song has been named the new Director of Education for the Department of Ophthalmology. His responsibilities will include oversight and organization of departmental educational meetings, conferences, and continuing medical education (CME) activities including the annual symposium.
Dr. Alejandra Gonzalez-Calle joined the USC Roski Eye Institute faculty in May 2021. Dr. Gonzalez-Calle focuses on applying engineering approaches and discoveries towards addressing retinal disorders with no immediate cures. A recent postdoctoral research associate of the USC Ginsburg Institute, she also received her Masters and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from USC.

Awards and Grants
Cheryl Craft, PhD, 2021 ARVO Foundation Distinguished Honoree
Award Date: May 1, 2021

Mahnaz Shahidi, PhD, received a five year NIH/NINDS RF1 grant
Project Title: Two-photon Imaging of Oxygen and Blood Flow in Retinal and Cerebral Vasculature
Award Date: May 1, 2021

Jesse Berry, MD, Elected to ARVO Annual Meeting Committee for Anatomy and Pathology/Oncology
Award Date: May 4, 2021

J. Martin Heur, MD, PhD, Elected to ARVO Annual Meeting Committee for Cornea
Award Date: May 4, 2021

Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, received a USC Stevens Center for Innovation Commercialization Award. He earned the award in recognition of the licensing of his technology "Instruments and Methods for the Implantation of Cell-Seeded Substrates."
Award Date: May 10, 2021

Kimberly Gokoffski, MD, PhD, received a Strategic Directions for Research Award (SDRA) from the USC Office of Research Initiatives & Facilities
Project Title: Novel, Large-Field Gradient, Electrical Stimulator to Accelerate Peripheral Nerve Regeneration into Split Thickness, Skin Graft Donor Sites
Award Date: May 12, 2021

In the News
Pasadena Magazine interviewed Kristina Voss, MD, about eye health. Interview located on page 33 of the magazine.

The podcast Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson interviewed Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, about his work regarding retinal implants.

The Hill highlighted research by Gianluca Lazzi, PhD, and Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, on the Argus II retinal implant, a retinal prosthesis that allows users to perceive movements and shapes.


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

Faculty Publications:

1.    Isaac Asante, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Genomic and Phenotypic Diversity of Cultivated and Wild Tomatoes with Varying Levels of Heat Tolerance” in Genes.
 
2.    Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD; Grace Richter, MD, MPH; and Mahnaz Shahidi, PhD; co-authored the paper, “Relationship Between Macular Vessel Density and Total Retinal Blood Flow in Primary Open-angle Glaucoma” in the Journal of Glaucoma.
 
3.    Xuejuan Jiang, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Retinal imaging demonstrates reduced capillary density in clinically unimpaired APOE ε4 gene carriers” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
 
4.    Thomas Lee, MD, and Sudha Nallasamy, MD, co-authored the paper, “Evaluation of high-definition video smart glasses for real-time telemedicine strabismus consultations” in the Journal of AAPOS.
 
5.    Narsing Rao, MD, co-authored the paper, “Classification criteria for Sympathetic Ophthalmia” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
 
6.    Narsing Rao, MD, co-authored the paper, “Classification criteria for punctate inner choroiditis” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
 
7.    Melinda Chang, MD, co-authored the paper, “Prospective Cross-Sectional Study of Repeatability of Peripapillary Capillary Density Measurement Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Eyes With Optic Nerve and Retinal Vascular Pathology” in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology.
 
8.    Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Early neuroinflammation is associated with lower amyloid and tau levels in cognitively normal older adults” in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
 
9. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Central Curation of Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended Data: Lessons Learned from TRACK-TBI” in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
 
10. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Frontoinsular cortical microstructure is linked to life satisfaction in young adulthood” in Brain Imaging Behavior.
 
11. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Tractography Processing with the Sparse Closest Point Transform” in Neuroinformatics.
 
12. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Global and Regional Changes in Perivascular Space in Idiopathic and Familial Parkinson’s Disease” in Movement Disorders.
 
13. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Longitudinal Analysis of Multiple Neurotransmitter Metabolites in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Early Parkinson’s Disease” in Movement Disorders.
 
14. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Gray Matter Atrophy: The Impacts of Resective Surgery and Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy” in World Neurosurgery.
 
15. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Three-dimensional self-attention conditional GAN with spectral normalization for multimodal neuroimaging synthesis” in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
 
16. Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein is a Prognostic Biomarker of Six-Month Disability after Traumatic Brain Injury: Results from the TRACK-TBI Study” in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
 
17. Arthur Toga, PhD, and Paul Thompson, MD, co-authored the paper, “Longitudinal Associations of Blood Phosphorylated Tau181 and Neurofilament Light Chain With Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer Disease” in JAMA Neurology.
 
18. Arthur Toga, PhD, and Paul Thompson, MD, co-authored the paper, “Four distinct trajectories of tau deposition identified in Alzheimer’s disease” in Nature Medicine.
 
19. Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Association between body mass index and subcortical brain volumes in bipolar disorders-ENIGMA study in 2735 individuals” in Molecular Psychiatry.
 
20. Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Sex and dependence related neuroanatomical differences in regular cannabis users: findings from the ENIGMA Addiction Working Group” in Translational Psychiatry.
 
21. Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Sex is a defining feature of neuroimaging phenotypes in major brain disorders” in Human Brain Mapping.
 
22. Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Association of Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures With Psychosis Onset in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Developing Psychosis: An ENIGMA Working Group Mega-analysis” in JAMA Psychiatry.

23. Brandon Wong, MD; Sandy Zhang-Nunes, MD; and Jessica Chang, MD, co-authored the paper, "Imaging of the post-operative orbit and associated complications" in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.


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.    Huizhong Tao, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Phasic Off responses of auditory cortex underlie perception of sound duration” in Cell Reports.
 
3.    Young-Kwon Hong, co-authored the paper, “Terminating Cancer by Blocking VISTA as a Novel Immunotherapy: Hasta la vista, baby” in Frontiers in Oncology.