The department welcomed basic scientist and Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience Kevin K. Park, Ph.D., in September. Dr. Park’s research focuses on the visual system and how the projection neurons in the retina, the retinal ganglion cell axons, find their targets and form synapses in the brain. His lab will continue investigating two areas: 1) Mechanisms by which neurons in the visual system form proper connections and 2) Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the death of neurons and lack of regeneration in the central nervous system after injury and in degenerative diseases like glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa.
Dr. Park’s September 2023 paper in Cell Reports yields data that “provide a valuable resource for interrogating the mechanisms of circuit development and identifying markers for manipulating specific [superior colliculus] neuronal populations and circuits.”
Visit Dr. Park’s Lab
