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VSSS and WIPS Schedules

Join us in-person or virtually for these monthly events

Close-up of a blue eye as seen through an ophthalmology tool.

The Department of Ophthalmology's Visual Sciences Seminar Series (VSSS) features basic scientists from national and international institutions who present on a range of ophthalmic and visual sciences topics. VSSS talks can be attended in-person or via Zoom. Please RSVP to Carey Chafouleas to attend these lunchtime talks.


The Works-in-Progress Series (WIPS) provides graduate students and postdoctoral researchers an opportunity to present their research to peers on a monthly basis.

VSSS Lectures

Zoom link for all lectures | Meeting ID 955 438 7682

  • 2025-2026 Schedule
    Date/Time/LocationSpeakerTitle

    September 4, 2025
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200

    Laura Campello, Ph.D.
    Director, Retinal Gene Therapy
    Avisa Therapeutics

    		 Molecular Insights into Retinal Therapy and Aging

    November 6, 2025
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200

    Robert Mullins, M.S., Ph.D.
    Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
    (University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA)

    		 A Certain Kind of Hurtin': Complement Injury in Macular Degeneration

    December 4, 2025
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200

    Bryan W. Jones, Ph.D.
    Professor of Ophthalmology
    (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Vision Institute, Pittsburgh, PA)

    		 Retina: A Model for Neurodegeneration

    January 8, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200

    Anupam Mondal, Ph.D.
    Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
    UT Southwestern

    Delineating Early Bimolecular Anomalies in Retinal Degeneration and Aging Using an Integrated Omics Approach

    February 5, 2026
    12-1pm
    Room D1.502

    Ashok Kumar, Ph.D.
    Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences
    (Wayne State University, Detroit, MI)

    		 Targeted Ferroptotic Cell Death During Ocular Bacterial Infections

    February 12, 2026
    12-1pm
    Room D1.200

    Jason Meyer, Ph.D.
    A. Donald Merritt Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics
    (Indiana University School of Medicine, Bloomington, IN)

    		 Glial Dysfunction and Inflammation in Optic Neuropathies: Insights from Human Stem Cell Models

    April 2, 2026
    12-1pm
    Room E6.200

    Matthew J. Van Hook, Ph.D.
    Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
    (University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha, NE) 

    		 Degeneration and Plasticity of the Visual Thalamus

    May 14, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200

    		 Marek Napierala, Ph.D.
    Professor of Neurology
    UT Southwestern    		 TBA

WIPS Series

  • 2026 Schedule
    Date/Time/LocationSpeaker
    January 16, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Megan Voss (Varadarajan Lab)
    February 19, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Ana Herget (Wert Lab) and Kate Borner (Petroll Lab)
    March 19, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Israa Mustafa (Wert Lab)
    April 16, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Nafisa Nuzhat, Ph.D., and Aashita Doshi (Wert Lab)
    May 21, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Venu Talla, Ph.D., and Chaimaa Kinane, Ph.D.
    (Park Lab)
    August 20, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Ashley Rowe (Wert Lab)
    September 17, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Tiffany Yee (Wert Lab)
    October 15, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Sigi Tang, Ph.D. (Wert Lab) and Noriyoshi Takahashi (Wang Lab)
    November 19, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Belinda Hernandez, Ph.D. (Robertson Lab)
    December 17, 2026
    12:00-1:00pm
    Room E6.200    		 Kriti Pandey (Wert Lab)
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