Click below for the Program Book

Wednesday, May 25

Time Name Speakers Location Name More Info
6:30 AM - 4:30 PMRegistration Salon I-V Hallway
6:31 AM - 8:00 AMPoster Setup Lullwater Ballroom
7:00 AM - 8:00 AMBreakfast Dining Room
8:00 AM - 8:45 AMKeynote Lecture I: "DARC as a Biomarker of Disease"Francesca Cordeiro, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
8:44 AM - 10:05 AM Platform Session I - Stress Management Emory Amphitheater
8:45 AM - 9:01 AM"Elastic Fiber Defects in Glaucoma Pathogenesis"Rachel W. Kuchtey, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:01 AM - 9:17 AM"Matrix GLA (MGP) Ablation Increases Stiffness in the Trabecular Meshwork and Disrupts the Retinal Vasculature in Living Mice"Terete Borras, PhD, FARVOEmory Amphitheater
9:17 AM - 9:33 AM "Simulating the Biomechanics of the Lamina Cribrosa Microstructure and Associated Neural Tissues"J. Crawford Downs, PhD, FARVOEmory Amphitheater
9:33 AM - 9:49 AM"OCT Measurement of In Vivo Deformation and Strain in the Human Lamina Cribrosa after Laser Suturelysis"Thao (Vicky) Nguyen, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:49 AM - 10:05 AM "The Strain that Broke the Axon's Back; Towards Axon-Centric Optic Nerve Head Biomechanics"Ian A. Sigal, PhDEmory Amphitheater
10:05 AM - 10:30 AMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
10:29 AM - 12:35 PMPlatform Session II - Translational Advances Emory Amphitheater
10:30 AM - 10:35 AMSpecial Tribute to Dr. Laszlo Z. BitoPaul Kaufman, MDEmory Amphitheater
10:35 AM - 10:52 AM "Sustained IOP Lowering by a Novel Non-Surgical, Non-Pharmacologic Mechanism"C. Ross Ethier, PhDEmory Amphitheater
10:52 AM - 11:09 AM"RNAi Based Approach for MYOC-Associated Glaucoma"Gaurang C. Patel, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:09 AM - 11:26 AM "Sustained Release Of EPO-R76E Protects Against Glaucoma by Activating Nrf2 Via the MAPK Pathway"Tonia S. Rex, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:26 AM - 11:43 AM"Preclinical Efficacy and Safety Profile of QLS-101, A Novel ATP-Sensitive Potassium Channel Opener for the Reduction of IOP"Cynthia L. Steel, MBA, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:43 AM - 12:00 PM "The Bigger Picture: Use of Daily Round-the-Clock Intraocular Pressure Measurements for Understanding Glaucoma Progression"Ariana M. Levin, MDEmory Amphitheater
12:00 PM - 12:17 PM" Pharmacodynamic response of optic nerve head (ONH) tissue vasculature and blood flow after administration of PER-001, an endothelin receptor antagonist"Brad Fortune, O.D., PhDEmory Amphitheater
12:30 PM - 1:45 PMLunch Dining Room
1:44 PM - 3:30 PMPlatform Session III - Molecular Mechanisms Emory Amphitheater
1:45 PM - 2:02 PM "Benign or Pathogenic? Perplexing Variants of the Glaucoma-Associated Myocilin Olfactomedin Domain"Raquel L. Lieberman, PhDEmory Amphitheater
2:02 PM - 2:19 PM"Targeting Nmnat2 for Neuroprotection in Glaucoma"Pete Williams, PhDEmory Amphitheater
2:19 PM - 2:36 PM "The Role of miR-182 in Conventional Outflow Pathway"Yutao Liu, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
2:36 PM - 2:53 PM"A COMPARATIVE GENOME-WIDE TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS OF GLUCOCORTICOID RESPONDER AND NON-RESPONDER PRIMARY HUMAN TRABECULAR MESHWORK CELLS"Colin E. Colin E. Willoughby MD FRCOphthEmory Amphitheater
2:53 PM - 3:10 PM "miRNA Changes in Retinal Ganglion Cells After Optic Nerve Crush and Glaucomatous Damage"Stanislav Tomarev, PhDEmory Amphitheater
3:10 PM - 3:27 PM"Age-Related Response to Ocular Hypertension"Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhDEmory Amphitheater
3:30 PM - 4:00 PMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
4:00 PM - 4:45 PMKeynote Lecture II: "Multiscale Imaging for Glaucoma Research, from Single Molecules to Humans"Hao Zhang, PhDEmory Amphitheater
4:45 PM - 5:30 PMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
5:30 PM - 7:00 PMDinner Dining Room
7:00 PM - 9:00 PMReception and Poster Session Lullwater Ballroom

Thursday, May 26

Time Name Speakers Location Name More Info
7:00 AM - 8:00 AMBreakfast Dining Room
7:00 AM - 6:20 PMRegistration  Salon I-V Hallway
8:00 AM - 8:45 AMKeynote Lecture III: "Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease: Nexus of Glaucoma, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's and Related Dementias"Malú Gámez Tansey, PhDEmory Amphitheater
8:44 AM - 10:05 AMPlatform Session IV - NextGen Glaucoma Emory Amphitheater
8:45 AM - 8:58 AM "Nitric Oxide Mediates Rapid IOP-Dependent Homeostatic Regulation of Aqueos Humour Outflow in Mice"Ester Reina-Torres, PhD:Emory Amphitheater
8:58 AM - 9:11 AM"Stem Cell Secretome as a Potential Treatment for Steroid-Induced and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Models"Ajay Kumar, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:11 AM - 9:24 AM"MKK4 and MKK7 Control Retinal Ganglion Cell Soma Loss, Axonal Degeneration, and Dendritic Remodeling after Glaucoma-Relevant Injury"Olivia J. Marola, MSEmory Amphitheater
9:24 AM - 9:37 AM"Live Two-Photon Calcium Imaging in Retinal Ganglion Cells: Characterization of Early Changes in a Mouse Glaucoma Model"Yukihiro Shiga, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:37 AM - 9:50 AM"Sustained Reversal of Glaucoma-Induced Vision Loss by in Vivo Epigenetic Reprogramming"Margarete Karg, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:50 AM - 10:03 AM"Measuring Cumulative Loss of Ganglion Cell Layer Somas in Normal and Glaucomatous Subjects"Kazuhiro KurokawaEmory Amphitheater
10:05 AM - 10:30 AMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
10:29 AM - 12:30 PMPlatform Session V - Inflammation and Glial Activation Emory Amphitheater
10:30 AM - 10:47 AM"APOE4 Ameliorates Microglial Cytotoxicity and Neurodegeneration in Glaucoma"Milica A. Margeta, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
10:47 AM - 11:04 AM"Novel Function of Insulin Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-Like 1 (IGFBPL1) Against Microglia Activation and Protects Glaucomatous Degeneration"Kin-Sang Cho, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:04 AM - 11:21 AM"Passive Transfer of Mononuclear Cells from POAG Donors Confers Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Recipient Mice"Markus Kuehn, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:21 AM - 11:38 AM"Decorin - An Antagonist of TGF-Β in Astrocytes of the Optic Nerve"Rudolf Fuchshofer, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:38 AM - 11:55 AM"The GLP-1 Receptor Agonist NLY01 Reduces Neuroinflammation and Protects Against Neuron Loss in Ocular Hypertension"Qi N. Cui, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:55 AM - 12:12 PM"Inflammasome Facilitates Ganglion Cell Dysfunction and Loss in Ocular Hypertension Glaucoma"Valery ShestopalovEmory Amphitheater
12:12 PM - 12:29 PM"Signaling Pathways that Link IOP Elevation with Retinal Microglial Activation and IL-1β Release"Claire Mitchell, PhDEmory Amphitheater
12:30 PM - 1:45 PMLunch Dining Room
1:44 PM - 3:45 PMPlatform Session VI - Insights From Novel Models and Approaches Emory Amphitheater
1:45 PM - 2:02 PM"Mining the BXD Family of Mice to Model the Natural Progression of Glaucoma"TJ HollingsworthEmory Amphitheater
2:02 PM - 2:19 PM"Enhanced Optic Nerve and Retinal Ganglion Cell Degeneration in a new Multifactorial Glaucoma Animal Model"Sabrina Reinehr, Dr. rer. nat.Emory Amphitheater
2:19 PM - 2:36 PM"SREBF2 is Necessary for Efficient Optic Nerve Regeneration in Zebrafish"Matthew Veldman, PhDEmory Amphitheater
2:36 PM - 2:53 PM"ANGPTL7 Gene Silencing and Knockdown lowers IOP"Carl Romano, PhDEmory Amphitheater
2:53 PM - 3:10 PM"Establishing the Ground Squirrel as a Model for Exploring Optic Neuropathologies, Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection"Francisco M. Nadal-Nicolas, PhDEmory Amphitheater
3:10 PM - 3:27 PM"Mice Carrying an A387T Variant of ADAMTS10 Recapitulate Phenotypes of Weill-Marchesani Syndrome"John Kuchtey, PhDEmory Amphitheater
3:27 PM - 3:44 PM"Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Ganglion Cells Carrying a Glaucoma-Causing Mutation Exhibit Neurodegenerative Phenotypes and are Sensitive to the Effects of Diseased Astrocytes"Jason S. Meyer, PhDEmory Amphitheater
3:45 PM - 4:15 PMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
4:14 PM - 5:35 PMPlatform Session VII - Structural and Functional Neuroenhancement Emory Amphitheater
4:15 PM - 4:31 PM"Autophagy Deficiency Protects Against IOP Elevation and Offers Neuroprotection in Experimental and Chronic Glaucoma Mouse Models"Paloma B. Liton, PhDEmory Amphitheater
4:31 PM - 4:47 PM"Rod Pathway Asymmetries Following to Transient Intraocular Pressure Elevation"Luca Della Santina, PhDEmory Amphitheater
4:47 PM - 5:03 PM"Functional effects of optic nerve head astrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles"Simon Kaja, PhDEmory Amphitheater
5:03 PM - 5:19 PM"Robust Optic Nerve Regeneration in a Mouse Mutant"Jiaxing Wang, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
5:19 PM - 5:35 PM"Loss of RGC Synaptic Outputs to the Visual Thalamus in a Mouse Model of Glaucoma"Matthew Van Hook, PhDEmory Amphitheater
5:35 PM - 6:20 PMKeynote Lecture IV: "The Benefits of Studying Eyes and Brains to Uncover Common Mechanisms of Neurodegenerative Diseases"Gareth Howell, PhDEmory Amphitheater
6:30 PM - 9:00 PMAwards Reception and Dinner Lullwater Ballroom

Friday, May 27

7:00 AM - 8:00 AMBreakfast Dining Room
7:00 AM - 12:30 PMRegistration Salon I-V Hallway
8:00 AM - 8:45 AMKeynote Lecture V - The Role of the Inner Wall of Schlemm's Canal in Ocular HypertensionMark Johnson, PhDEmory Amphitheater
8:44 AM - 10:05 AMPlatform Session VIII - Modulation and Enhancement of Outflow Function Emory Amphitheater
8:45 AM - 9:01 AM"Effect of ATP-Sensitive Potassium (KATP) Channel Openers on Intraocular Pressure (IOP) and Aqueous Humor Dynamics in Preclinical Ocular Hypertensive Models"Michael P. Fautsch, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:01 AM - 9:17 AM"Schlemm's Canal Endothelium Cellular Connectivity in Giant Vacuole and Pore Formation in Different Flow Regions: A 3D Electron Microscopy Study"Haiyan Gong, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:17 AM - 9:33 AM"Stem Cell Effects on Myocilin Mutant TM Cells and on a Mouse Model with Myocilin Mutation"Yiqin Du, MD, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:33 AM - 9:49 AM"TGFβ2 Modulates YAP/TAZ Activity in Human Trabecular Meshwork Cells Through ERK and ROCK Signaling Pathways"Samuel Herberg, PhDEmory Amphitheater
9:49 AM - 10:05 AM"Glypican-4 Activated Wnt5 PCP Pathway-Induced Actin Cytoskeletal Reorganization is a Predominant Response in Trabecular Meshwork Cells Treated with Dexamethasone"Vasantha Rao Ponugoti, PhDEmory Amphitheater
10:05 AM - 10:30 AMBreak and Poster Viewing Lullwater Ballroom
10:29 AM - 12:30 PMPlatform Session IX - The Last Word in Glaucoma Emory Amphitheater
10:30 AM - 10:47 AM"Mechanism of APBB2 Contributions to Glaucoma"Michael G. Anderson, PhDEmory Amphitheater
10:47 AM - 11:04 AM"Inhibiting the Alternative Complement Pathway is Neuroprotective in a Microbead-Induced Mouse Model of Glaucoma"Cindy Hoppe, MScEmory Amphitheater
11:04 AM - 11:21 AM"Bax Activation in Damaged Retinal Ganglion Cells in Vivo Occurs in Two Distinct and Delayed Stages"Ryan J. Donahue, PhDEmory Amphitheater
11:21 AM - 11:38 AM"IOP Variability in Conscious Rats"Christina NicouEmory Amphitheater
11:38 AM - 11:55 AM"Morphologic Changes to Microglial Cells Accompany Stimulation of the P2X7 Receptor in the Retina"Wennan LuEmory Amphitheater
11:55 AM - 12:12 PM"Axon Development in Human Derived Retinal Ganglion Cells"Michael Risner, PhDEmory Amphitheater
12:12 PM - 12:29 PM"Aquaporins Absent and Specialized Junctional Complexes: Unique Astrocyte Phenotype in Nerve Head Across Species Shows Lack of Glymphatic Pathway"Harry Quigley, MDEmory Amphitheater
12:29 PM - 1:45 PMLunch Dining Room
12:30 PM - 1:45 PMPoster Tear Down Lullwater Ballroom