3 Residents Highlighted in Buffalo Ophthalmology Symposium

Residents presented research posters on:

• Smartphone Use in Determining Ophthalmological Emergencies
  Presenter: Centrael (Sonny) Evans, MD
  Mentor: Sandra Sieminski, MD, clinical assistant professor of ophthalmology and director of glaucoma services
• iExaminer: A Clinically Proven Fundus Imaging System With Medical Education Potential
  Presenter: Steven Stockslager, MD
  Mentor: Matthew Pihlblad, MD
• Conflict of Interest: Declarations in the Ophthalmic Literature
  Presenter: Jamie Schaefer, MD
  Mentor: Geert Craenen, MD, VA Western New York Healthcare System
  

Four department faculty gave presentations:

• Ranibizumab and ROP
  Presenter: James D. Reynolds, MD, professor and chair
• Genetics, Genomics and Therapies for Inherited Retinal Dystrophies
  Presenter: Michael H. Farkas, PhD, assistant professor
• What's New in Adult Strabismus
  Presenter: Andrew L. Reynolds, MD, clinical assistant professor
• New Therapeutic Targets for Diabetic Retinopathy
  Presenter: Sarah X. Zhang, MD, associate professor

A total of 13 posters were presented by faculty. They were also presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting in Baltimore in May.

Four of the posters were presented by John M. Sullivan, MD, PhD, professor:

• Finding a Needle in a Haystack: Tracking Rhodopsin mRNA using RNA Aptamers
  Co-authors: Jennifer B. Breen, BS; Alexandria J. Trujillo, doctoral student in pharmacology and toxicology; Mark C. Butler, MS; and Sriganesh Ramachandra Rao, doctoral student in biochemistry
  
• Cleavage of Human Rhodopsin mRNA and Protein Knockdown Using Lead HHRz-725, a Candidate Therapeutic Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa
  Co-authors: Zahra S. Fayazi, DVM, PhD; and Mark C. Butler, MS
  
• Hammerhead Ribozyme in a tRNA Scaffold: Effects of RNA Processing and Anti-Sense Flank Length on Cleavage In-Vivo
  Co-authors: Jason M. Myers, MS; and Zahra S. Fayazi, DVM, PhD
• Structural Modeling Predicts Variability in Efficacy of Lead Candidate Hammerhead Ribozyme Between Different Species Rhodopsin mRNA
  Co-authors: Alexandria J. Trujillo, doctoral student in pharmacology and toxicology; and Beau R. Froebel, MD

Sangita P. Patel, MD, PhD, clinical assistant professor, presented three posters:

• Influence of Eyelid Pigmentation on the Diagnosis of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction
  Co-author: Max J. Blumberg, BS
  
• Estrogen Receptor Beta in Human Corneal Endothelium
  Co-authors: Ali Mahdavi Fard, MD; and Michael J. Morales, PhD
  
• A Novel Model of Corneal Edema in Mice With a Disrupted Endothelial Bicarbonate Transporter
  Co-authors: Mark D. Parker, PhD; Anikó Marshall, research support specialist; Cheikh Mballo, undergraduate student in biomedical sciences; and Emily E. Salerno

Joshua Jianxin Wang, MD, associate research professor, presented three posters:

• Loss of Xbp1 in Retinal Cells Accelerates Age-Related Deterioration in the Mouse Visual System
  Co-authors: Todd R. McLaughlin, research scientist; and Sarah X. Zhang, MD, associate professor
• Role of Endothelial Nox4 in Retinal Vascular Development and Pathological Angiogenesis
  Co-authors: Xixiang Tang, research assistant; and Sarah X. Zhang, MD, associate professor
• Enhanced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Bone Marrow Angiogenic Progenitor Cells in a Mouse Model of Long-Term Experimental Type 2 Diabetes
  Co-Authors: Maulasri Bhatta, MS; Jacey Ma, MD, PhD; Jonna Sakowski, BS; and Sarah X. Zhang, MD, associate professor

Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, Meyer H. Riwchun Endowed Chair Professor, presented two posters:

• Rod Photoreceptor-Specific Ablation of DehydrodolichyIdiphosphate Synthase (DHDDS) Causes Rapid Retinal Degenerations: A New Model for arRP
  Co-authors: Sriganesh Ramachandra Rao, doctoral student in biochemistry; Mark C. Butler, MS; Delores A. Stacks, BA; and Steven J. Pittler, PhD
  
• Compromised Phagosome Maturation Underlies Defective Rod Outer Segment Clearance in Culture iPSC-Derived RPE Cells from Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome Patients
  Co-authors: Sriganesh Ramachandra Rao, doctoral student in biochemistry; Nestor Mas Gomez, PhD; Bruce A. Pfeffer, PhD; Aryn M. Rowsam, BS; and Claire H. Mitchell, PhD

Xiuqian Mu, PhD, associate professor, presented a poster titled: Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Analysis of Retinal Ganglion Cell Development

Two faculty members were awarded “Teacher of the Year” as part of the conference. Ruth Mattern, MD, and Michael Vilardo, MD, both clinical assistant professors of ophthalmology, were the honorees.

Those selections are chosen and awarded by residents.

Johanna M. Seddon, MD, was presented with the Howe Gold Medal — a combined UB/Buffalo Ophthalmological Society prize — in recognition of her work in ophthalmic research. Seddon is a professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

The award is in honor of Lucien Howe, who spent much of his career as a professor of ophthalmology at the University at Buffalo. An 1890 statute sometimes referred to as “The Howe Law” required application of silver nitrate drops in the eyes of newborns to prevent blindness.

The Buffalo Ophthalmology Symposium took place June 16 at the Millennium Hotel in Cheektowaga, New York.