Mu Receives SUNY Research Foundation Collaboration Grant
Xiuqian Mu and collaborators at UB and Upstate Medical University will use a $100,000 grant to study the role of onecut transcription factors in retinal development and vision.
Published December 13, 2012 This content is archived.
Story by Nicole Peradotto
Xiuqian Mu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, is principal investigator on one of only nine grants awarded statewide through the SUNY/Research Foundation Research Collaboration Fund.
Co-principal investigators on the two-year, $100,000 grant are UB’s Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, the Meyer H. Riwchun Endowed Chair Professor of ophthalmology and a research health scientist at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, and Eduardo C. Solessio, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Upstate Medical University.
Exploring Mechanisms in Horizontal Cell Formation
Mu and his collaborators will study the role of the onecut transcription factors Oc1 and Oc2 in retinal development and vision.
Their preliminary data indicate that Oc1, and probably Oc2, are required for horizontal cell formation and may be essential for retinal ganglion cell development.
All three researchers belong to the SUNY Eye Institute (SEI), a collaborative research consortium comprised of the ophthalmology programs at the four SUNY health sciences campuses as well as the SUNY College of Optometry in New York City.
Of the nine groups of scientists to receive research collaboration awards, two groups belong to the SEI.
Fostering Research Partnerships Across SUNY System
The Research Collaboration Fund encourages new and existing inter-campus collaborations, supporting their development into long-term partnerships with sustained growth.
The peer-review panel evaluating the grant applications consists of faculty from SUNY and New York’s private colleges and universities as well as industry representatives.