Visual Neuroscience Group
GROUP MEMBERS
- Associate Professor Regan Ashby (lab leader)
- Ms Cindy Karouta (PhD candidate)
- Ms Cassandra Pantelidis (Honours student)
RESEARCH THEMES
The focus of the visual neuroscience group is to understand the molecular pathways underlying the regulation of normal ocular growth, and how such neural pathways are affected during the development of the visual disorder myopia (short-sightedness). Myopia is now at epidemic proportion in many parts of the world, most notably in urban East Asia, where 80-90% of school-leavers are myopic. One of the major focuses of the visual neuroscience group is investigating how exposure to high light levels, similar to those experienced on a sunny day, can retard the development of myopia through modulation of genomic and epigenomic regulatory mechanisms.
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
- Investigating the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of ocular growth
- Determining the properties and molecular pathways by which sunlight can retard the development of the visual disorder myopia
- Understanding the role of dopaminergic system in ocular growth and the development of myopia
- Understanding how contrasting morphological phenotypes can development from the same genome and specifically the role of non-coding small RNAs in this process.
COLLABORATIONS
- Professor Ryszard Maleszka (RSB, ANU)
- Professor Ian Morgan (RSB, ANU)
- Professor Frank Schaeffel (University of Tuebingen, Germany)
- Dr Sylvain Forêt (RSB, ANU)
- Dr Sally McFadden (University of Newcastle)
- Dr Iain Searle (University of Adelaide)
- Dr Tamsin Kelly (University of Canberra)