2023 Symposium on AMD Program

Connect. Collaborate. Discover.

6th Biennial International

Symposium on AMD September 29-30, 2023 | Boston, MA

Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology

Organizing Committee CO-CHAIRS Patricia A. D’Amore, PhD, MBA Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School Vice Chair, Basic and Translational Research, Harvard Ophthalmology Co-director, Harvard Ophthalmology AMD Center of Excellence Director, Howe Laboratory, Mass Eye and Ear Associate Chief of Basic and Translational Research, Mass Eye and Ear Senior Scientist, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear

Deeba Husain, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School Co-director, Harvard Ophthalmology AMD Center of Excellence Principal Investigator, Harvard Ophthalmology Metabolomics Program in Retina Director, Medical Retina Fellowship Program, Mass Eye and Ear Director, Retina Consultants of MEE Stoneham, Mass Eye and Ear

Ivana K. Kim, MD Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School Co-director, Harvard Ophthalmology AMD Center of Excellence Co-director, Harvard Ophthalmology Ocular Oncology Center of Excellence Director, Retina Clinical Research, Mass Eye and Ear Fellowship Director, Ocular Oncology Fellowship, Mass Eye and Ear Evangelos S. Gragoudas Distinguished Scholar in Retina Research, Mass Eye and Ear

EX-OFFICIO Joan W. Miller, MD David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School Chair of Ophthalmology, Mass Eye and Ear and Massachusetts General Hospital Ophthalmologist-in-Chief, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Massachusetts Eye and Ear • Massachusetts General Hospital • Boston Children’s Hospital Beetham Eye Institute at the Joslin Diabetes Center • Brigham and Women’s Hospital • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cambridge Health Alliance • VA Boston Healthcare System • VA Maine Healthcare System

eye.hms.harvard.edu

6th Biennial International Symposium on AMD

Schedule Friday, September 29, 2023 - Starr Center, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 7:00 - 8:00 AM

Breakfast

8:00 - 8:05 AM

Welcome & Introduction - Joan W. Miller, MD - David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

8:05 - 8:30 AM

The Search for an Early Anatomical Endpoint in Atrophic AMD Professor Robyn Guymer AM, MBBS, PhD - Deputy Director, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne

OMICS 8:30 - 8:50 AM

Gut Microbiome and AMD; Insights From Germ-free and Gnotobiotic Animal Models Dimitra Skondra, MD, PhD - Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Chicago Medicine

8:55 - 9:15 AM

AMD Metabolomics: Opportunities, Challenges, and Next Steps Milam A. Brantley, MD, PhD - Associate Professor, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, and Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University

9:20 - 9:40 AM

What Can We Learn About Atrophic and Neovascular AMD From Choroidal Transcriptomics?

Robert Mullins, MS, PhD - Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Iowa

9:45 - 10:20 AM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Margaret M. DeAngelis, PhD - Professor and Ira G. Ross and Elizabeth Olmsted Ross Endowed Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, University at Buffalo/SUNY)

10:25 - 10:45 AM

Break

IMMUNITY 10:45 - 11:05 AM

Regulating Innate Immunity in the RPE Professor Andrew Dick, BSc, MBBS, MD - Duke Elder Chair & Director of Institute, Ophthalmology, University College London, University of Bristol, NIHR BRC Moorfields

11:10 - 11:30 AM

Neuroinflammatory Targets and Strategies for AMD Therapies Wai T. Wong, MD, PhD - Vice President, Retinal Disease, Janssen Pharmaceuticals

11:35 - 11:55 AM

Aging and Neovascular AMD-mediated Macular Fibrosis Heping Xu, MD, PhD - Professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast

12:00 - 12:40 PM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Demetrios Vavvas, MD, PhD - Solman and Libe Friedman Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School)

12:40 - 1:40 PM

Lunch

OXIDATIVE STRESS 1:40 - 2:00 PM

The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Physiology and Pathology Professor Andrey Y. Abramov, PhD - Professor, Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, Institute of Neurology, University College London

2:05 - 2:25 PM

Metabolite Signaling and Oxidative Stress in Aging RPE Pamela Martin, PhD - Professor, Ophthalmology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University

2:30 - 2:50 PM

Oxidative Stress: What Role Does It Play and When Is It Involved in AMD? James T. Handa, MD - Robert Bond Welch Professor of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Wilmer Eye Institute

2:55 - 3:35 PM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Goldis Malek, PhD - Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, Pathology, and Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine)

Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology

Friday, September 29, 2023 - Continued 3:35 - 3:55 PM

Break

4:00 - 4:10 PM

Introduction to the Friedman Lecture Evangelos S. Gragoudas, MD - Charles Edward Whitten Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

4:10 - 4:15 PM

Introduction of the 2023 Friedman Lecturer Joan W. Miller, MD - David Glendenning Cogan Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

4:15 - 5:15 PM

2023 Ephraim Friedman, MD Lecture in Ophthalmology The Bumpy Road to Complement-based Therapies for AMD Cathy Bowes Rickman, PhD - George and Geneva Boguslavsky Distinguished Professor of Eye Research and Professor of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine

5:15 - 5:20 PM

Adjourn - Deeba Husain, MD - Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

The Liberty Hotel (215 Charles Street, Boston, MA) 6:00 - 7:00 PM

Reception & Trainee Posters

7:00 - 9:00 PM

Gala Dinner

Saturday, September 30, 2023 - Starr Center, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 7:30 - 8:20 AM

Breakfast

8:20 - 8:25 AM

Welcome Back - Ivana K. Kim, MD - Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

AGING 8:30 - 8:50 AM

A Genomic Search for Novel Anti-AMD Interventions: Partial Reprogramming and Beyond Yuancheng Ryan Lu, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

8:55 - 9:15 AM

Small Molecule Autophagy Activators for Treating AMD Toren Finkel, MD, PhD - G. Nicholas Beckwith III and Dorothy B. Beckwith Chair in Translational Medicine, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Aging Institute, University of Pittsburgh

9:20 - 9:40 AM

Age-related Changes in Molecular Interaction Between RPE and Neuroretina Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD - Assistant Professor, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Ophthalmology, and Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics, University of California, Irvine

9:45 - 10:25 AM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Maria B. Grant, MD - Professor and Eivor and Alston Callahan Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

10:25 - 10:45 AM

Break

RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM 10:45 - 11:05 AM

Exploring Immune Vascular Interactions to Identify Novel Therapeutic Targets Raj Apte, MD, PhD - Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Vice Chair for Innovation and Translation, Washington University in St. Louis

11:10 - 11:30 AM

Human RPE Proteomic Analysis Reveals Altered Pathways and Potential Targets for Treatment Deborah A. Ferrington, PhD - Chief Scientific Officer, Doheny Eye Institute

11:35 - 11:55 AM

Phase Separation Regulates Both Fluid-Phase and Intracellular Complement Activation in the RPE Aparna Lakkaraju, PhD - Professor of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco

12:00 - 12:40 PM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Silvia C. Finnemann, PhD - Kim B. and Stephen E. Bepler Chair in Biology, Fordham University)

6th Biennial International Symposium on AMD

Saturday, September 30, 2023 - Continued 12:40 - 1:40 PM

Lunch

IN VITRO MODELS 1:40 -2:00 PM

Optogenetic Transformation of Retinal Organoids to Restore Visual Function Marcela Garita-Hernandez, PhD - Instructor in Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

2:05 -2:25 PM

Modeling Age-related Macular Degeneration with 2D and 3D iPSC-derived Outer Blood-retina Barrier Kapil Bharti, PhD - Scientific Director and Senior Investigator, Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

2:30 - 2:50 PM

Using iPSCs to Decipher AMD Pathobiology Ruchira Singh, PhD - Associate Professor of the Departments of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Genetics, University of Rochester Medical Center

2:55 - 3:35 PM

Panel Discussion (Moderator: Cathy Bowes Rickman, PhD - George and Geneva Boguslavsky Distinguished Professor of Eye Research and Professor of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine)

3:40 -3:50 PM

BrightFocus Foundation Grants & Travel Award Winners Diane Bovenkamp, PhD - Vice President, Scientific Affairs, BrightFocus Foundation

3:50 -4:00 PM

Conference Summary & Closing Remarks - Patricia D’Amore, PhD, MBA - Charles L. Schepens Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

4:00 - 4:20 PM

Refreshments & Networking

BrightFocus Foundation Travel Award Winners Mohamed Shawky, PhD Research Associate Wayne State University Detroit, MI

Joseph Benjamin Lin, BS Medical Student Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO

Katie L. Bales, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Atlanta VA Medical Center Atlanta, GA

Abdelhakim M. Morsy, MD, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Augusta University, Medical College of Georgia Augusta, GA

Sayan Ghosh, PhD Postdoctoral Associate University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, PA

Ruchi Sharma, PhD Staff Scientist NEI/NIH Bethesda, MD

John Han, PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

Emily Tom, BS Graduate Student University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA

Timothy Lee, BS Research Assistant University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA

Jing Wang, PhD Research Scientist Augusta University, Medical College of Georgia Augusta, GA

Harvard Medical School Department of Ophthalmology

Platinum Level

Advertiserments

6th Biennial International Symposium on AMD

Silver Level

Bronze Level

Advertiserments

Thank you to our supporters...

Travel Awards

Bright Focus Foundation Educational Grants

Regeneron Clearside Biomedical Novelty Nobility Novartis

Promotional Sponsors Platinum

Genentech Silver RegenxBio Bronze Apellis Heidelberg Engineering Iveric Bio