Posts by Jennifer Hocking
Left-right patterning defects associated with Axenfield-Rieger syndrome
The transcription factor FOXC1 is a major cause of the autosomal dominant genetic disease Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS). Most ARS patients suffer from early-onset glaucoma which eventually leads to blindness; however extra-ocular phenotypes are also common. Cardiac septal defects and valve insufficiency arises in 10-15% of FOXC1-associated ARS cases but the etiology is poorly understood. Chrystal…
Read MoreFacial development
Beyond studying eyes, some of our AVN labs also pay attention to surrounding structures. Congratulations to Pranidhi Baddam (PhD Student) from the Graf lab for recent publications in the Journal of Anatomy and Disease Model and Mechanisms. Her work characterizes normal maturation of nasal septum cartilage, and the abnormal midfacial development in mice with neural…
Read MoreSpecial Issue on Ophthalmic Genetics: Vision in 2020
The recent special issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics; Seminar in Medical Genetics (Volume 184, Issue 3) includes contributions from four AVN labs: Waskiewicz, Lehmann, Walter, and MacDonald. Check out the issue to learn more about ocular coloboma, retinal dystrophies, and more: AJMG Ocular Genetics
Read MoreCongrats to Nate Nadolski
Nate defended his MSc thesis (Form and Function of Photoreceptors in kcnv2 Mutant Zebrafish: Implications for the Human Disease KCNV2 Retinopathy) last Thursday. After giving a great talk, he passed without revisions! Congrats to Nate on being the first student to graduate from the Hocking lab, and all the best to him as he starts…
Read MoreHighlights from the Casey Lab
Darpan Malhotra defended his PhD in June 2019, with Bob Molday doubling as his external examiner and our AVN Research Day keynote speaker (see photo of Bob, Darpan, and Joe). The Casey lab is still publishing papers based on Darpan’s impressive body of work about the SLC4A11 corneal transporter. To learn more, check out these…
Read MoreUpdates from the past year
Lab research is always full of ups and downs, but it’s been more topsy-turvy than ever in 2020. We thought we’d take this opportunity to highlight accomplishments of our AVN labs over the past year. Stay tuned over the coming weeks….
Read MoreNew ERG method for zebrafish
A recent paper from the Hocking Lab describes a simple method for obtaining electroretinogram measurements from zebrafish. Excitingly, it works for larval, juvenile and adult fish. Well done Nate Nadolski on your success following painstaking work to develop the new procedure. Nadolski NJ, Wong CXL, Hocking JC. Electroretinogram analysis of zebrafish retinal function across development. Doc…
Read MorePMEL mutations cause pigmentary glaucoma
A paper in press at Human Molecular Genetics (Lahola-Chomiak et al., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30561643) reports the results of a collaboration led by Dr. Michael Walter, and involving the Lehmann and Allison labs. This work discovered the first causative gene for pigmentary glaucoma, a common subtype of glaucoma, which represents the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Dr.…
Read MoreBrightFocus Foundation grant competition
The BrightFocus Foundation has an upcoming grant competition for those conducting research on macular degeneration, with a Letter of Intent due June 26th. Details can be found here: Dear_Researcher_LOI_RFP_FY19
Read MoreNicole Noel received a CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship
Nicole is working on her PhD thesis under two AVN members, Dr. Ian McDonald and Dr. Ted Allison. Congratulations to Nicole for receiving a CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship to support her during her studies.
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