September 20th, 2007 — UC Davis has recently created the Center for Visual Sciences, an interdepartmental organization to promote excellence in vision-related research on campus. The principle mission of the CVS is to create a culture of collaboration between basic and clinical vision research, strengthening existing individual research programs and inciting new partnerships and collaborations among UC Davis investigators and the larger national and international vision science communities. The CVS will be headed by Marie E. Burns, PhD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and member of the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. Dr. Burns’s own research program investigates the physiological properties of rod and cone photoreceptors, both in terms of their normal ability to signal light and what goes terribly wrong as photoreceptors begin to die.

About her appointment as CVS director, Burns says “We all work hard, very hard, and the tendency is for each of us to focus so hard on the details before us that we don’t take come up for air and look around to see what’s going on next door. Truly cutting edge research results when ideas are fertilized with new perspectives. Providing opportunities for meaningful interactions among vision researchers is one of my primary goals.” One of the way Burns will improve interactions is through the establishment of a central, on-line resource for researchers to seek the expertise of others on campus or to connect with others with similar research interests. It will also be the primary means of finding out about research and training opportunities for students and postdocs, invited speakers and visiting professors, as well as funding opportunities for vision-related research. The website will be launched in early October: cvs.ucdavis.edu.

Upcoming CVS events include a Vision Sciences Research Group (VSRG) meeting on Thursday, October 11 in Room 320 of Medical Neurosciences building (1515 Newton Court in south Davis) to chart the year’s initiatives. Other important future dates: