Space-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) and Identifying Certain Brain Circuits Responsible For Visual Acuity

 

Dr. Tyson Brunstetter (NASA Johnson Space Center - Houston, TX)

Dr. Farran Briggs (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Dr. Tyson Brunstetter, NASA Johnson Space Center Clinical Lead In Eyes and Vision, discusses SANS, Space-associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome, which can affect the vision of astronauts, with the movement of fluids in the eyes and brain in microgravity.

Then, Dr. Farran Briggs, Senior Investigator in the Thalamocortical Visual Processing Section and the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, explains research identifying certain brain circuits responsible for visual acuity in ferrets by studying neurons along the X and Y pathways in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN).

9/21/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below)

Vision Loss and Falls Leading To Greater Mortality Risk And Female Sex Hormones Affect On RP In Mice

Dr. Shu Xu (University of Michigan Institute For Social Research - Ann Arbor, MI)

Dr. Katherine Wert (University of Texas - Southwestern - Dallas, TX)

Ashley Rowe (University of Texas - Southwestern - Dallas, TX)

Dr. Shu Xu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Michigan Institute For Social Research, discusses the relationship among vision loss, falls, and mortality risk for seniors.

Dr. Katherine Wert, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology with a secondary affiliation in the Department of Molecular Biology, and Ashley Rowe, Graduate Student, Wert Lab, at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, go over how female sex hormones affect the progression of retinitis pigmentosa in mice.

9/7/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Hapware AlEye Converting Facial Expressions Into Haptic Feedback And Low Vision Services At Southern College Of Optometry

Hapware AlEye (Hapware - Golden, CO)

Dr. Karen Squier (Souther College of Optometry - Memphis, TN)

Jack Walters, Co-Founder and CEO of Hapware in Golden, Colorado, explains the AlEye smart glasses, which utilize computer vision and haptic feedback to convert facial expressions into physical sensations that can be felt through a wristband.

Then, Dr. Karen Squier, Chief of Low Vision Services at Southern College of Optometry, discusses the school's low vision services including Ray Ban Meta Glasses.

8/31/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below)

NIH Grant For New AMD Gene Therapy Method And Link Between Interleukin-6 Protein and Diabetic Eye Disease

Dr. Glenn Yiu (University of California, Davis - Davis, CA)

Dr. Stephen J. Kim (Vanderbilt University - Nashville, TN)

 

Dr. Glenn Yiu, Director of Teleophthalmology and Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Davis, explains a National Institutes of Health grant to fund research into a new method into injecting gene therapy into the eye to treat macular degeneration.

Dr. Stephen J. Kim, Phyllis G. and William B. Snyder Chair and Retina Division Chief, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, discusses research linking interleukin-6, a protein, with diabetic eye disease.

8/17/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below)

Effects Of Blue Light and PEDF Peptide Eye Drops To Treat Retinitis Pigmentosa In Mice

Dr. Nicole Bajic (Cleveland Clinic - Cleveland, OH)

Dr. Patricia Becerra (National Eye Institute - Bethesda, MD)

Dr. Nicole Bajic, Ophthalmologist and Director of Media and Communications, Cole Eye Institute, and Assistant Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, goes over blue light, the sources of blue light, and the effects of blue light on sleep-wake cycles and the eye.

Dr. Patricia Becerra, Senior Investigator, Head of the Protein Structure and Function Section, National Eye Institute, discusses how pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) peptide eye drops have been used in research to treat mice with retinitis pigmentosa.

8/3/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below) 

Stiffness of Extracellular Matrix (ECM) In Glaucoma and Vizling App For Comics, Maps, and Art Accessibility

Dr. Ali Karimi (Oregon Health and Science University - Portland, OR)

Dr. Darren McFrain (Wichita State University - Wichita, KS)

Dr. Ali Karimi, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, in Portland, discusses how the extracellular matrix (ECM) affects the ability of the trabecular meshwork (TM) to drain fluid from the eye in the development of glaucoma. 

Dr. Darren DeFrain, Professor of English and Director of the Writing Program, Wichita State University, discusses the Vizling app, which provides audio description and navigation for reading visually-heavy text media such as comic books and graphic novels.

7/20/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below)

Tennessee Sound Sites Audio Description And Latest On PRIMA Bionic Vision System

Josh Loebner (VML, lives in Knoxville, TN)

Dr. Daniel Palanker (Stanford University - Stanford, CA)

Josh Loebner, of Knoxville, Global Head Of Inclusive Design at VML, explains Tennessee's Sound Sites, which allows songwriters to provide evocative alt-text descriptions of online images of numerous places of interest in the state of Tennessee.

 Dr. Daniel Palanker, Professor, Department Of Ophthalmology, School Of Medicine, Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, at Stanford University discusses the latest in the development and testing of the PRIMA Bionic Vision System, which utilizes a wireless sub-retinal implant, augmented reality glasses, and a pocket processor to provide a certain level of artificial vision to those afflicted with age-related macular degeneration.

7/13/2025 Podcast (Click Image Below)