NEI Intramural Events

Focus on Fellows

Best Scientific Presentations

2009 Focus on Fellows Award Winners with the NEI leadership.
(left to right) Dr. Sheldon Miller (scientific director), Dr. Sarah Sohraby (deputy scientific director), Xiaoguan Cao, Jerome Roger, Cuiyan Tan, Qing Pan, Fan Zhang, Thomas Johnson, and Dr. Paul A. Sieving (NEI director).

Dr. Ethan Bromberg-Martin, from the Section on Neuronal Networks (Chief, Okihide Hikosaka, M.D., Ph.D.), Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, for his presentation, “The Role of Dopamine in Information-Seeking.”

Thomas Johnson, from the Section on Molecular Mechanisms of Glaucoma, (Chief, Stanislav Tomarev, Ph.D.), Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, for his presentation, “Local Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation Confers Neuroprotection in Experimental Glaucoma.”

Honorable Mentions

Dr. Qing Pan, Section on Cellular Differentiation (Chief, Peggy Zelenka, Ph.D.), Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, for her presentation, “Cdk5 Regulates Src Activity by Targeting cSrc for Ubiquitin-dependent Degradation.”

Dr. Jerome Roger, Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory (Chief, Anand Swaroop, Ph.D.), for his presentation, “ADRP-associated human NRL mutations in codons 50 and 51 affect photoreceptor survival under bright light exposure in mouse retina.”

Dr. Preeti Subramanian, Section on Protein Structure and Function (Chief, S. Patricia Becerra, Ph.D.), Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology, for her presentation, “Mechanistic insight into the interaction of pigment epithelium-derived factor and its receptor PEDF-R.”

Scientific Director’s Awards

Dr. Xiaoguang Cao, from the Section on Immunopathology (Chief, Chi-Chao Chan, M.D.), Laboratory of Immunology, in recognition of exemplary dedication and devotion to vision research.

Thomas Johnson, from the Section on Molecular Mechanisms of Glaucoma, (Chief, Stanislav Tomarev, Ph.D.), Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, in recognition of his outstanding efforts in the development of new approaches to a glaucoma treatment.

Dr. Atsuhiro Kanda, from the Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory (Chief, Anand Swaroop, Ph.D.), in recognition of his outstanding research in genetic and biological studies of age-related macular degeneration.

Dr. Jerome Roger, from the Neurobiology-Neurodegeneration and Repair Laboratory (Chief, Anand Swaroop, Ph.D.), in recognition of his outstanding attitude, competence, and work ethic in research and for excellent mentoring of students.

Dr. Cuiyan Tan, from the Section on Experimental Immunology (Chief, Igal Gery, Ph.D.), Laboratory of Immunology, for outstanding scientific contribution by generating and analyzing for the first time cell lines of antigen-specific Th9 lymphocytes.

Dr. Fan Zhang, from the Unit on Retinal Vascular Neurobiology, (Chief, Xuri Li, Ph.D.), in recognition of his excellent performance investigating the biological functions of VEGF-B in relation to ocular neurovascular pathologies.