UC Davis's Administrative Coordinating Council of Deans (ACCD) has announced the renewal of CVS for another 5 years. Under the directorship of Paul FitzGerald, PhD, the CVS will continue to grow, with the goals of increasing public outreach, forging stronger ties with industry, and continuing the foster collaborations between basic and clinical sciences engaged in vision research campus-wide.

Visiting Professor, Richard Kramer, PhD (UC Berkeley) presented his seminar "Photocontrol of ion channels, neurons, and blind retinas" to more than 30 vision scientists and their trainees, as well as additional members of the Center for Neuroscience and Department of Neurology. After the seminar, Dr. Kramer participated in a journal club discussion with grad students, faculty and postdocs that had been studying some of his papers and other literature in the field of negative and positive feedback in the outer retina. Thank you, Rich, for a stimulating discussion, as always.

The Annual CVS Research Symposium will be held on Friday, January 6, 2012 in Valley Hall, Room 1041. The theme this year is "Molecular Genetics of Eye Disease". We will be having two distinguished speakers, Eric Pierce, MD, PhD from MEEI/Harvard, and Neeraj Agarwal, PhD, the Program Director for Glaucoma and Optic Neuropathies, as well as the training programs at the National Eye Institute. This is a perfect opportunity to hear about the big changes in research and funding, and to showcase vision research at UCD. Please plan to attend!

Dr. Ivan Schwab has published a stunning new book entitled Evolution's Witness: How Eyes Evolved. In his book, Dr. Schwab presents the evolutionary history of the eye in great detail, tracking back 4600 million years ago, before the development of the first known eye, to the present. The book can be found and purchased here, and Dr. Schwab’s blog can be found here.