Happy New Year! To celebrate this occasion, we are glad to introduce a new member of the lab, Dr. Peter N. Huynh! Peter is interested in the development of therapeutic peptides, proteins, and characterizing therapeutic targets. His work has been at the intersection of biochemistry, immunology, and neuroscience. He primarily focused on the biochemical and mechanistic properties of immunomodulatory peptides derived from the venoms of carnivorous cone snails. Recently, his research pursuits were in neuroimmune mechanisms in non-opioid pathways of analgesia and neuronal protection against neuropathic pain. We are looking forward to see him bring his perspective to lens research!

We are excited to travel to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii for the 8th International Conference on the Lens! Going on from December 4th through the 9th, we will be exchanging breakthroughs in lens research. Dr. Cheng will be presenting data about cellular and molecular determinants of lens biomechanical properties in a talk. Michael will be presenting data from our latest article: Mapping the Universe of Eph Receptor and Ephrin Ligand Transcripts in Epithelial and Fiber Cells of the Eye Lens as a poster. Also of note is that Michael received the National Foundation for Eye Research Young Investigator Travel award from the conference! Congratulations Michael!

On November 29, 2022, a reception was held to honor faculty members that have generated a positive impact on student learning. Of the honored faculty members we celebrated, are Dr. Christopher Clark and Dr. Cheng! Congratulations!

An early Thanksgiving lunch and a late Thanksgiving post. Thank you lens squad for being present!

In this article, we design specific primers, perform reverse transcription PCR, and sequence the results to determine how many of the numerous Eph receptors and ephrin ligands are within the lens. Our results might surprise you, because they certainly surprised us! Read it here: Mapping the Universe of Eph Receptor and Ephrin Ligand Transcripts in Epithelial and Fiber Cells of the Eye Lens.

On September 28, 2022, Dr. Catherine Cheng was able to celebrate her Outstanding Junior Faculty award with her other awardees as well as recipients for Herman B Wells professors, Mary Burgen Distinguished Service awardees, Provost professors, and Tracy M. Sonneborn awardees. Below are images of Dr. Cheng with Provost Rahul Shrivastav and former Vice Provost Beth Gazley as well as her fellow awardees! Congratulations to everyone!

We are delighted to introduce a new member to our lab, Isaiah! Isaiah is joining us as a research laboratory assistant and is looking to challenge himself by learning about the lens in the eye! Welcome to the team Isaiah!

Our new article explains, in detail, our protocols to study the lens epithelial monolayer! We discuss techniques for RNA isolation, protein extraction, protein preparation for capillary electrophoresis, flat mounting, and immunostaining. Traditional methods require pooling of many more epithelial sheets as opposed to our methods that can use as little as two epithelial peels. Read it here: Methodologies to unlock the molecular expression and cellular structure of ocular lens epithelial cells.

The Cheng lab is looking for a talented research associate/post-doctoral research fellow to join our eye lens research team.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. by the start date of the job.

More details can be found at: https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/13393

or here Research Associate/Post-Doctoral Fellow Job Posting

Inquiries can be sent to Dr. Cheng at ckcheng@iu.edu.

The Heartland Vision Research Symposium this year was a great time! It was made more so because Jackson and Michael each gave fantastic talks! Not to mention, the delicious food enjoyed at the symposium and after the symposium.