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The RReSTORe Consortium - a neuroscience regenerative medicine initiative


Thomas Johnson

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Thomas Johnson

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Dear SfN Members,

The Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) Repopulation, Stem cell Transplantation, and Optic nerve Regeneration (RReSTORe) consortium is currently seeking collaborative, innovative, and passionate investigators, especially trainees and junior faculty within 5 years of initial appointment (i.e. Emerging Vision Scientists), to join an initiative that will advance translational development of vision restoration therapies for glaucoma and other primary optic neuropathies. RReSTORe aims to assemble an international group of more than 100 leading and emerging investigators from related fields.  Click here to view the RReSTORe Website

Emerging Vision Scientists, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds in science and medicine, are strongly encouraged to apply. We hope to over travel grants to the 2022 RReSTORe Workshop.  Click here to apply as an Emerging Vision Scientist

The goals of the consortium are:

  1. To define and prioritize the most critical challenges and questions related to RGC regeneration over the next five years.
  2. To brainstorm innovative tools and experimental approaches to meeting these challenges while fostering opportunities for collaborative scientific investigation among diverse investigators.

The RReSTORe initiative is being developed through a three-phased process.  In phase I an international group of scientists with diverse interests and expertise will be assembled to delineate the most important questions and challenges hindering clinical translation of vision restoration treatments for optic neuropathy though an iterative, inclusive, consensus-based process. Most of the process will take place through a series of web-based discussions beginning in 2022.  In Phase II, participants will meet in person for the RReSTORe workshop on Friday April 29th, 2022 in Denver Colorado, immediately preceding the ARVO meeting.  Participants will share ideas, insights, and data in a collaborative roundtable discussion to identify tools, models, and experiments that will propel clinical translation of vision restoring optic neuropathy treatments. In phase III, we will establish a sustainable, collaborative network of investigators who will advance the field of RGC replacement, with an emphasis on maximizing diversity of participants. A web-based collaborative platform, facilitating discussions and debriefings, will follow the RReSTORe workshop. A discussion board for conversations and a quarterly webconference will be established and actively moderated indefinitely.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Best wishes,
Tom Johnson

on behalf of the RReSTORe Organizing Committee: Tom Johnson, Adriana Di Polo, Petr Baranov, Kim Gokoffski, Jeff Goldberg, Bill Guido, Carol Mason, Tom Reh, Ahmara Ross, Brian Samuels, Derek Welsbie, and Don Zack
 

Thomas V Johnson III, MD, PhD
The Allan & Shelley Holt Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University
Clinic: 600 N Wolfe St, Maumenee B-110
Lab: 400 N Broadway, Smith M-027
Baltimore, MD 21287.  Tel: 443-287-3542
Edited by Thomas Johnson
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