Supraja's presentation provides insights into mechanisms that promote retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon regeneration in vertebrates.
Her work describes a distal optic tract injury model that can be used to investigate re-connectivity of RGC axons to central targets in the brain. She also describes how increased neural activity in retinorecipient neurons in the pretectum promotes RGC axon regeneration, and rescues deficits in optomotor function caused by injury. Techniques used include intravitreal injections, chemogenetics, anatomical tracing, optomotor testing, and histology.
Presenters
Supraja Varadarajan
Supraja Varadarajan obtained her PhD from the University of California Los Angeles and completed her postdoctoral work at Stanford University in the lab of Andrew Huberman. She is primarily interested in the mechanisms that regulate axon growth in both health and disease.
Sponsor
