Gryffin presented his work with the lab at Oxyopia on March 28th. His talk was titled: “Eph-ephrin signaling is required for normal lens growth, shape, and nucleus stiffness”. His work examined mechanical properties of the lens using Dr. Cheng’s coverslip application method. He did a great job presenting his findings with his peers!

Peter presented his research at IUSO’s Oxyopia for the second time on March 14. His talk was titled: “Spatial-Temporal Topography of Ephs and Ephrins in the Lens” and it covered the work he had done to narrow down potential binding partners for EphA2 or ephrin-A5 via qPCR. He did an excellent job presenting his challenging work!

At the end of May, the lab was able to gather and celebrate Dr. Cheng’s & Arya’s birthdays, Jackson’s optometry school graduation, Jenna’s vision science master’s degree conferment, and Gryffin’s graduation with a bachelor of science in optometry! Congratulations everyone! The lab would not be where it is without you all!

In addition to Gryffin and Jackson earning degrees, Jenna was awarded her Masters of Science in Vision Science, based on the hard work that she has put in with the lab! Her thesis is titled: Canonical ligand-dependent and non-canonical ligand-independent EphA2 signaling in the eye lens of wild-type, knockout, and aging mice. Congratulations Jenna!

Congratulations to Jackson! He graduated at the beginning of May with his Doctor of Optometry degree! We wish you all the best and thank you for the laughs the past few years!

Gryffin Flowers was admitted early to the Indiana University School of Optometry Program in place of finishing senior year of undergrad. Upon completion of his second year at IUSO, he received his Bachelor of Science in Optometry. Congratulations Gryffin!

Congratulations to Gryffin on receiving his white coat at the end of March! With his white coat, Gryffin has been spending much of his time over in the clinic applying the knowledge and skills he’s gained in the past two years! Congratulations again Gryffin!

Throw back to when the lab was getting some field experience examining how animals use their lens at the Indianapolis Zoo!!

Waking up from the food coma to finally give thanks to everyone (past and present) for making the lab a great place to hang out!

Congratulations to Jenna, Michael, Jackson, and Isaiah on their new publication! This article was the first article with the lab for Jenna and Isaiah! The article examines the EphA2 receptor’s ability to signal canonically via receptor-ligand interaction and non-canonically without ligand binding. Non-canonical EphA2 signaling is typically associated with cancerous cells or tissues. Interestingly, our data is the first demonstration that non-canonical EphA2 signaling is active in normal wild-type lenses, and our results suggest that non-canonical EphA2 signaling has a physiological function. Have a look here: Canonical ligand-dependent and non-canonical ligand-independent EphA2 signaling in the eye lens of wild-type, knockout, and aging mice.