Seminar will be in-person in EBB CHOA (GT Campus) and may be accessed virtually via Zoom (below). Meeting ID: 982 0703 2204 |  Password: 516014

https://zoom.us/j/98207032204?pwd=OEJYZUtRVzBzdnU5K1ArV2dJUExkQT09

Join our Cloud HD Video MeetingZoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, conference, huddle, and training rooms, as well as executive offices and classrooms. Founded in 2011, Zoom helps businesses and organizations bring their teams together in a frictionless environment to get more done. Zoom is a publicly traded company headquartered in San Jose, CA.zoom.usDial by your location +1 470 250 9358 US (Atlanta)  Speaker: Dr. Ming-fai Fong  Seminar abstract:Leveraging transient vision loss as tool for driving therapeutic plasticityAmblyopia (lazy eye) is a neurodevelopmental visual impairment that affects 2-5% of children and is characterized by poor vision in one eye.  The current standard of care for treating amblyopia in kids is limited by poor compliance, recurrence, and a loss of efficacy once children enter adolescence.  The overall goal of our work is to discover new treatments for amblyopia and other visual disabilities by leveraging reverse translation approaches and principles of homeostatic plasticity in the mature nervous system.  Using these approaches we have found that (1) transient loss of vision via pharmacological inactivation of the retinas drives rapid homeostatic potentiation of thalamocortical synapses in mature mice, (2) temporary retinal inactivation can promote visual recovery beyond the canonical critical period in two preclinical models of amblyopia, and (3) selective inactivation of a subset of retinal cells can drive pathway-specific homeostatic plasticity that may address asymmetries in visual function observed in human amblyopia.  Our work demonstrates the utility of using different forms of visual deprivation to drive plasticity in the brain to promote visual recovery and enhancement. Bio:Ming-fai Fong received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University. She completed her postdoctoral training in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and a visiting lectureship in the Neuroscience Department at Wellesley College.  She launched her independent lab the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2021.  Her research focuses on discovery of new plasticity mechanisms in the mammalian brain as well as translational applications of plasticity for promoting vision restoration in preclinical models of blindness and visual impairment.  She is the recipient of the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Disney Award for Amblyopia Research from Research to Prevent Blindness.