Excited to see my PhD work is now published @cp-cellreports.bsky.social ! In this study, we used human retinal organoids to investigate how cell death occurs and affects the development and survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the projection neurons in the eye /1 www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Confocal microscopy image of retinal astrocytes
It's #FluorescenceFriday and these retinal astrocytes understood the assignment: branching, glowing, and casually laying down the blueprint for the retinal vasculature #Retina #ConfocalMicroscopy
The Vlasits Lab is hiring a technician because our current technician was accepted into a PhD program!
This position combines lab management and experiments. If you are interested in gaining experience with #retina research in Chicago, please apply.
vlasitslab.org
uic.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Our Commentary on the very nice recent paper from the @bobbyjeyeguy.bsky.social lab is finally out. A nice way to get a quick summary before diving into the full paper! Hope you like it. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
New study led by Ning Shen w/ @phruzycki.bsky.social: a genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screen in a retinitis pigmentosa mouse model identifies genes whose loss accelerates photoreceptor death. Overexpressing two, UFD1 and UXT, preserves photoreceptors, retinal function, and vision. 🧵
“The atoh7:iCre;ubi:Switch transgene combination successfully recapitulated the onset of endogenous atoh7 expression… We determined 79% of total RGCs in the wild type retina come from atoh7+ progenitor cells, a greater number than reported in the mouse retina”
New from @joelmiesfeld.bsky.social 🐟
I’m hiring a research tech to join my lab! Anyone interested can reach out to me for more information. This is a good opportunity for someone looking to expand their research skills prior to graduate school.
mcw.wd503.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Resident tissue #macrophages (RTM) are now recognized as integral regulators of tissue physiology, not transient immune sentinels. one fundamental question remains unresolved: why do some populations achieve lifelong self-maintenance, while others are replaced under steady-state conditions? 🧵1/11
Join us in Toronto, July 13–16 for the International Conference on Neurogenesis and Repair.
Featuring keynote Dr. Jeffrey Macklis (Harvard), 13 short‑talk slots, poster sessions, and many trainee travel awards
Details + registration:
event.fourwaves.com/neurogenesis...
Hope to see you there!
The 2026 Visual System Development GRC and GRS are fast approaching. Jeremy Kay, Kristen Kwan, Robert Johnston, and I have built an exciting program that we hope you will enjoy. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting this summer in beautiful Maine. Register and RT!
New preprint from the group on the evolution of retinal cell types. Check the summary by Dario @dariotommasini.bsky.social !
I'm excited to share our PNAS paper from 1st author Kasia Hussey. We study how the foveola, the high acuity region of the retina, is patterned by RA and TH. We were surprised to find that cone subtypes appear to convert fates. Our studies are important for AMD sufferers. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Happy to announce that our latest paper is now out! Have you ever wondered how neural tissues control their size? In this paper, we show that cell division orientation is critical in both the cortex and retina. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Join us in Toronto, July 13–16 for the inaugural International Conference on Neurogenesis & Repair!
Featuring keynote Jeffrey Macklis (Harvard) + global speakers.
13 competitive short talks, poster sessions, and separate trainee awards.
Early‑bird deadline: March 31.
Congrats! Very cool
I'm so excited that @christ3na.bsky.social 's paper describing temporal control of photoreceptor development in human organoids is out at Genes and Dev and we got the cover!
genesdev.cshlp.org/content/40/1...
genesdev.cshlp.org/content/40/1...
🧬👁️ Our Science Advances paper is published! snATAC-seq analysis across lamprey to human retina uncovers deeply conserved cis-regulatory codes in all six retinal cell types — even with extensive enhancer turnover. Immensely grateful to my coauthors and collaborators. 🙏 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Excited to announce that the newest paper from my lab on the Drosophila visual system is out today!
Modulating the levels and activity of the retinal determination network is sufficient to induce the specification of distinct tissue fates in Drosophila url: journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...
Just a heads up: I just got a phishing attempt pretending to be from the #VisualSystemDevelopment #GRC. It looked pretty convincing at first glance, so be careful!
Our latest paper is out! While the circadian photoentrainment circuit has been extensively studied, the mechanisms regulating its development remain poorly understood. Here we show that retinal Müller glia play a key role in this process. Check it out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Wow - really looking forward to this. Congrats!
That merely being “under review” by a Nature family journal is offered as a quality proxy for a paper is a tragic illustration of the extent to which academia is addicted to brands and outsources evaluation
Turquoise killifish naturally develop hallmarks of age-related macular degeneration with advancing age www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10....
It's #FluorescenceFriday!
Excited to share my PhD work! We characterize waves of cell death during human retinal development, and show how blocking apoptosis promotes RGC long-term survival and alters their developmental dynamics in organoids. These findings will improve future organoid design for retinal disease modeling‼️
New preprints from the lab!! (2)
A big thanks to the NEI for supporting my new R01 and MCW for highlighting the research focus. We’ve already made some interesting discoveries and I’m excited to see how the research progresses for years to come. www.mcw.edu/mcwknowledge...
Congrats thats big!
