Newsletter from the USC Roski Eye Institute

August 2020 Newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

I am very happy and enthusiastic to present you with the first issue of the USC Roski Eye Institute's new monthly newsletter. The goal of this new publication is to gather the incredible work performed by our faculty into one location every month.

This is an especially timely month to start this newsletter, as it marks the 27th year in a row that our department has been nationally top-ranked by U.S. News and World Report.

We hope you will enjoy the contents of this newsletter, which will profile important areas of clinical practice, research, education, philanthropy, and alumni relations each month. If you have any comments or suggestions for future newsletters, please reply to this email.

Sincerely,

Narsing A. Rao, MD

Grace and Emery Beardsley

Professor in Ophthalmology

Professor and Chair

USC Department of Ophthalmology

Keck School of Medicine of USC

Co-Director, USC Roski Eye Institute

Feature Story: From Silhouettes to Sight

Read the story of grateful patient Roslymn Caldwell. Blind nearly her entire life, Roslymn's sight was restored after undergoing a keratoprothesis at the USC Roski Eye Institute.

WELCOME NEW FACULTY

FACULTY PROMOTIONS

Dr. Kristina Voss joined the USC Roski Eye Institute Faculty team on August 1, 2020. Dr. Voss previously completed her cornea fellowship at USC in July 2020. Learn more about Dr. Voss here.

Dr. Xuejuan Jiang was promoted to Associate Professor of Research Ophthalmology. Learn more about Dr. Jiang's research here.

Awards and Grants

The USC Roski Eye Institute was named a Top 20 Department of Ophthalmology by the U.S. News and World Report for the 27th year in a row.

Jesse Berry, MD, received a one-year Wright Foundation Transformative Cancer Grant.

Project Title: Prospective, Longitudinal Aqueous Humor Liquid Biopsy to Predict Treatment Response and Minimal Residual Disease in Retinoblastoma.

Start Date: July 1, 2020

David Cobrinik, MD, PhD, received a one-year Research Grant from St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Project Title: Transcriptomic Effects of Copy Number Alterations in Pediatric Cancers.

Start Date: July 1, 2020

Aaron Nagiel, MD, PhD received a two-year Research Center Development Award from the Saban Reseach Institute.

Project Title: Development and Maintenance of the Photoreceptor-Bipolar Cell Synapse in Human Retinal Organoid.

Start Date: July 1, 2020

Qifa Zhou, PhD, received a four-year NIH/NHLBI R01 grant.

Project Title: Project Phase resolved ARF optical coherence elastography for intravascular imaging.

Start Date: July 1, 2020

Sarah Hamm-Alvarez, PhD, received a two-year NIH/NIA R21 grant.

Project Title: Development of a novel tear-based biomarker assay for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease using RT-QuIC.

Start Date: Aug 1, 2020.

Benjamin Xu MD, PhD, received a 2020 Fight for Sight / Weintraub Grant-In-Aid Award.

Project Title: Development of Quantitative OCT-based Methods to Detect and Evaluate Biometric Risk Factors for Primary Angle Closure Disease

Start Date: TBD

Mark Humayun, MD, received the Retina Research Foundation’s 2020 Gertrude D. Pyron Award.

Information: The Pyron Award, which is presented each year at the ASRS Annual Meeting, was created by the Retina Research Foundation of Houston, TX, to recognize outstanding vision scientists like Dr. Humayun, whose work contributes to knowledge about vitreoretinal disease.

Award Date: August 19, 2020

Kimberly Gokoffski, MD, PhD, received a two-year BrightFocus Foundation Grant.

Project Title: Electric Fields Collaborate with Cdc42 to Direct Optic Nerve Regeneration.

Start Date: September 1, 2020

Faculty Publications

Since July 1, 2020 our faculty have published 53 papers. Eligible publications included those that were e-published in July/Aug:

Faculty Publications:

Jessica Chang, MD, co-authored the paper, "Tarsal Epithelial Cysts: Prevalence, Case Series, and Synthesis of Existing Literature" in Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.
Maria Edman, PhD, and Sarah Hamm-Alvarez, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Application of advances in endocytosis and membrane trafficking to drug delivery” in Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.
J. Martin Heur, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Zeb1 mediates fibrosis in corneal endothelial mesenchymal transition through sp1 and sp3” in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.
Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Novel probabilistic model of core vitreous traction using microsurgical vitrectomy tools” in Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.
Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Cyanine Nanocage Activated by Near-IR Light for the Targeted Delivery of Cyclosporine A to Traumatic Brain Injury Sites" in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Xuejuan Jiang, PhD, and Mahnaz Shahidi, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Assessment of retinal vascular oxygenation and morphology at stages of diabetic retinopathy in African Americans” in BMC Ophthalmology.
Jonathan Kim, MD; David Cobrinik, MD, PhD; and Jesse Berry, MD, co-authored the paper, “Chromosome 6p amplification in aqueous humor cell-free DNA is a prognostic biomarker for retinoblastoma ocular survival” in Molecular Cancer Research.
Jonathan Kim, MD; David Cobrinik, MD, PhD; and Jesse Berry, MD, co-authored the paper, “Simultaneous identification of clinically relevant rb1 mutations and copy number alterations in aqueous humor of retinoblastoma eyes” in Ophthalmic Genetics.
Linda Lam, MD, MBA, co-authored, "Reading Speed as an Objective Measure of Improvement Following Vitrectomy for Symptomatic Vitreous Opacities" in Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers and Imaging Retina.
Thomas C. Lee, MD, and Aaron Nagiel, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges” in Retina.
Vivek Patel, MD, co-authored the paper, “Paracentral and cecocentral scotomas after pars plana vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Vivek Patel, MD, co-authored the paper, “Branch retinal vein occlusion associated with fingolimod treatment for multiple sclerosis” in the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.
Vivek Patel, MD, co-authored the paper, “Vision loss, gaze palsy, and nystagmus in a patient with leukemia” in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.
Vivek Patel, MD, co-authored the paper, “Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated optic neuritis and myelitis in covid-19” in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology.
Vivek Patel, MD, co-authored the paper, “New initiatives at journal of neuro-ophthalmology: Highlighting technology, social media, and content for trainees,” in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology.
Narsing Rao, MD, co-authored the paper, “Pathogenesis of ocular tuberculosis: New observations and future directions” in Tuberculosis.
Yonggang Shi, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Groupwise track filtering via iterative message passing and pruning” in NeuroImage.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Common genetic variation indicates separate causes for periventricular and deep white matter hyperintensities” in Stroke.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “The clinical utility of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in traumatic brain injury: Recommendations from the enigma mrs working group” in Brain Imaging and Behavior.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Enigma-anxiety working group: Rationale for and organization of large-scale neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders” in Human Brain Mapping.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Mapping subcortical brain alterations in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: Effects of deletion size and convergence with idiopathic neuropsychiatric illness” in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “What we learn about bipolar disorder from large-scale neuroimaging: Findings and future directions from the enigma bipolar disorder working group” in Human Brain Mapping.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Challenges and opportunities for neuroimaging in young patients with traumatic brain injury: A coordinated effort towards advancing discovery from the enigma pediatric moderate/severe tbi group” in Human Brain Mapping.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of family income-to-needs ratio with cortical and subcortical brain volume in adolescent boys and girls” in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “A white matter connection of schizophrenia and alzheimer's disease” in Schizophrenia Bulletin.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “The enigma sports injury working group:- an international collaboration to further our understanding of sport-related brain injury” in Brain Imaging and Behavior.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “How do substance use disorders compare to other psychiatric conditions on structural brain abnormalities? A cross-disorder meta-analytic comparison using the enigma consortium findings” in Human Brain Mapping.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Toward a global and reproducible science for brain imaging in neurotrauma: The enigma adult moderate/severe traumatic brain injury working group” in Brain Imaging and Behavior.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Ethical issues in global neuroimaging genetics collaborations” in NeuroImage.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Large-scale mapping of cortical alterations in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: Convergence with idiopathic psychosis and effects of deletion size” in Molecular Psychiatry.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Region-specific sex differences in the hippocampus” in NeuroImage.
Paul Thompson, PhD, co-authored the paper, “White matter disturbances in major depressive disorder: A coordinated analysis across 20 international cohorts in the enigma mdd working group” in Molecular Psychiatry.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Methodological considerations in designing and implementing the harmonized diagnostic assessment of dementia for longitudinal aging study in india (lasi-dad)” in Biodemography Social Biology.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Thc exposure is reflected in the microstructure of the cerebral cortex and amygdala of young adults” in Cerebral Cortex.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Quality of life and caregiver burden in familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration: Analyses of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals within the lefftds cohort” in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Disruption and compensation of sulcation-based covariance networks in neonatal brain growth after perinatal injury” in Cerebral Cortex.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Validation of serum neurofilament light chain as a biomarker of parkinson's disease progression” in Movement Disorders.
Arthur Toga, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging for localization of corticotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas” in Neuroradiology.
Brian Toy, MD, and Narsing Rao, MD, co-authored the paper, "Incidence, prevalence, and risk factors of infectious uveitis and scleritis in the United States: A claims-based analysis," in PLoS One.
Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “A randomized controlled trial comparing subconjunctival injection to direct scleral application of mitomycin c in trabeculectomy” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Vessel density and retinal nerve fibre layer thickness following acute primary angle closure” in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD, and Brian Toy, MD, co-authored the paper, “Rates of eye care and diabetic eye disease among insured patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes” in Ophthalmology Retina.
Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD; Xuejuan Jiang, PhD; Grace Richter, MD, MPH; and McKean-Cowdin R, co-authored the paper, “Ocular biometric determinants of anterior chamber angle width in chinese americans: The chinese american eye study” in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Lan Yue, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Optimization of stimulation parameters for epi-retinal implant based on biosafety consideration” in PLoS One.
Sandy Zhang-Nunes, MD, and Young-Kwon Hong, PhD, co-authored the paper, Organogenesis and distribution of the ocular lymphatic vessels in the anterior eye” in JCI Insight.
Qifa Zhou, PhD, co-authored the paper, “3d-printing piezoelectric composite with honeycomb structure for ultrasonic devices” in Micromachines (Basel).

Affiliate Faculty Publications:

Cheng-Ming Chuong, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Avian pigment pattern formation: Developmental control of macro- (across the body) and micro- (within a feather) level of pigment patterns” in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
Cheng-Ming Chuong, MD, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Variations of mesozoic feathers: Insights from the morphogenesis of extant feather rachises” in Evolution.
Shikun He, MD, co-authored the paper, “Mecp2-421-mediated rpe epithelial-mesenchymal transition and its relevance to the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy” in Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
Young-Kwon Hong, PhD, co-authored the paper, “The lymphatic cell environment promotes kaposi sarcoma development by prox1-enhanced productive lytic replication of kaposi sarcoma herpes virus” in Cancer Research.
J. Andrew MacKay, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Anti-flt3 nanoparticles for acute myeloid leukemia: Preclinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics” in Journal of Controlled Release.
J. Andrew MacKay, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Berunda polypeptides carrying rapalogues inhibit tumor mtorc1 better than oral everolimus” in Biomacromolecules.
Roberta McKean-Cowdin, PhD, co-authored the paper, “Factors associated with prevalent lens opacities in chinese american adults: The chinese american eye study” in Ophthalmic Epidemiology.

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