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Margaret Mcfall-Ngai, PhD, stands along the beach at one of her study sites, the Kewalo Marine Laboratory of the University of Hawaii.

Clownfish and sea anemones, remoras and sharks, bees and flowers, ants and aphids, fungi and trees, and mistletoe and live oaks are all examples of visible symbiotic relationships. Symbiosis, in the classical sense, is defined as two dissimilar organisms of different species living together in close association. Yet far more widespread than these observable alliances are the invisible animal-microbial partnerships often essential to human and animal health and survival.

These hidden relationships of hosts and beneficial microbes are a primary focus for Margaret McFall-Ngai, PhD, professor in the department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and member of the Eye Research Institute. Studying the complex interactions and coevolution of a specific animal host and its bacterial symbiont, she has developed a model system focusing on the relationship between the Hawaiian bobtail squid Euprymna scolopes and the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Within this single host/single microbe symbiosis, she seeks to comprehend how evolution has approached the problem of designing tissues that interact with light. (Next)

Hongrui Jiang, PhD, is an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and an affiliate in the department of Biomedical Engineering and the Materials Science Program. His research interest lies in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), especially micro-optical imaging devices and systems for surgical tools.

Nature’s inspiration — long evident in art, music, architecture, philosophy, and education — is increasingly apparent in science and engineering. Looking to nature’s genius as the consummate problem-solver, researchers have modeled wind turbines on whale fins, a universal radio chip on the inner ear, and water-repellant fabrics and paint on the surface structure of the lotus leaf. Hongrui Jiang, PhD, seeks insight through understanding the remarkable models natural vision systems provide.

An associate professor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the UW Eye Research Institute, Jiang believes that one of the most promising routes to designing lens technology — for optical imaging systems, medical diagnostics, surgical applications — lies in learning from nature. This concept of emulating nature’s best biological ideas to address human problems, known as biomimicry, inspires much of his research. “I study natural visual systems in order to adapt or incorporate that knowledge into the development of artificial systems, trying to understand the delicate designs of nature and apply them for our benefit,” Jiang explains. “There are no ‘best’ eyes in the animal kingdom — only those, after lengthy evolution, that are best suited to their owners, matched to their specific ecological niche.” (Next)

Professor Shiela Reaves (center front) poses with several camera-ready students from her Life Sciences Communication class, Visual Composition & Digital Editing. Left to right, students are Brittany Bowling, Sarah Baldwin, Haley Madden, Marcus Steed, and Rachael Herschleb. Photo by LSC student Sheri Nelson.

Four key visual cues spark brain response. Color captures interest and signals contrast. Warm colors, comprised mainly of red, orange and yellow, are vivid in nature and tend to advance in space, so we notice these first. Cool colors, largely of green, blue and violet, are soothing in nature and tend to recede. Form defines outside edges, relief against camouflage or light on dark, from which we quickly discern patterns leading to image recognition. Depth gives sense of space, size and perspective, so we experience “closer” as “larger” and “farther” as “smaller.” Movement heightens attentiveness, insists on being followed, and when implied using blur or wavy lines, leads the eye and induces feelings of motion.

Shiela Reaves, professor in the Life Sciences Communication department, member of the UW Eye Research Institute (ERI), and affiliate of the UW American Indian Studies Program, brings experience and enthusiasm to teaching—and lends a photographer’s eye to the ERI. Her field is visual communication, the study of the visual languages in media, and her teaching brings visual literacy and analysis into focus in disciplines such as science journalism, agricultural marketing and reporting, mass communication, media design, and photojournalism. (Next)

Graduate student Byounghoon Kim and Michele Basso, PhD, look at the eye movement behavior of a non-human primate in a decision-making task.

A scene in the movie “Awakenings,” based on the book by Oliver Sacks, shows a woman who shuffles  as she walks to a water fountain. With this slow, hesitant gait characteristic of parkinsonism, she  progresses steadily over the high contrast, black-and-white tile floor. But she halts abruptly, unable to proceed, when the floor surface changes to solid gray. The presence of visual stimuli (for her, the high contrast flooring) can often help patients with Parkinson’s disease overcome their movement disability; but absent visual contrast (the solid gray floor), their internal ability to generate movement is inoperable.

In health and disease alike, how does what we see translate into what we do? Scanning a broad visual field, our eyes constantly feed information to our brains; but how do we choose where to direct our attention? Behavioral neurophysiologist Michele A. Basso, PhD, associate professor of physiology and member of the UW Eye Research Institute, is intrigued by such questions. To understand processes related to choice and decision-making, Basso studies how the brain takes visual information and transforms it into specific eye movements. (Next)

Rob Nickells, PhD, with a glaucomatous mouse valuable to his research

It is often said in research that for every question answered, ten more are created. This is true for molecular and developmental biologist Robert W. Nickells, PhD, professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and a member of the UW Eye Research Institute, who has devoted the past 17 years to researching the multivariate aspects of glaucoma—each discovery opening new pathways to explore.

Glaucoma is a complex disease described as a “sneak thief of sight” because it steals vision almost imperceptibly over time. According to the World Health Organization, it is the second leading cause of blindness in the world. A person with glaucoma may not notice vision loss until the disease is already quite advanced, as one’s field of vision shrinks at the periphery first. Once vision is lost, it cannot be regained. (Next)

Aimee L. Arnoldussen, PhD, shows the current prototype of the BrainPort vision device. Components include a hand-held controller, tongue array, base Central Processing Unit, and digital video camera image system.

Imagine your world limited to light perception only, your blindness necessitating reliance upon guide dog, white cane, and exploratory touch. Aimee Arnoldussen, a research neuroscientist at Wicab, Inc. and member of the Eye Research Institute, invites you to test a prototype visual prosthetic, the Brain-Port vision device. After a few hours of training you are able to recognize high-contrast objects, their location, movement, and some aspects of perspective and depth. A new door opens in your experiential world, and for the first time, you are excited that you can “see.”

For the past two years, Arnoldussen has been guiding blind subjects—those with no better than light perception—through pilot tests of a novel technology engineered at UW-Madison by the late Paul Bach-y-Rita, Wicab’s co-founder and former UW faculty member. Patented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), BrainPort electrotactile sensory substitution technology is the core of this vision device. Based on the idea that the brain’s remarkable adaptability allows interpretation of sensory information from touch as if it were traditionally perceived via sight, the device helps the tongue substitute for the eyes.(Next)

Posters and materials from the conference illustrate the ways in which artistic images can evoke science concepts.

The emerging transdisciplinary field of Visual Culture connects the study and practice of all that is visual across the sciences, humanities, social sciences and arts. Its objects of study and materials of practice include not merely images, visual objects, imaging technologies and devices of visual representation but also the ways of seeing, valuing and interpreting the visual. The field’s methodologies are, therefore, diverse and hybrid, including the empirical, practical, creative and theoretical.

“Is seeing physiological or cultural?” This was one of the first questions that Jill Casid, associate professor of Visual Culture Studies and director of the UW Visual Culture Center, asked during the planning of the recent “Visualizing Science” conference. The question represented a starting point for a dialogue between those who study vision from the seemingly disparate viewpoints of science and the humanities.(Next)

A test subject demonstrates the importance of early visual information when attempting to grasp an object in a virtual environment.

Anyone who has played a video game has had the experience of using hand-eye coordination to guide actions happening in a virtual environment displayed on the computer screen. What can virtual environments such as these teach us about how sensory information – like sight and touch – influence our actions, reactions, and movements?

“We are constantly bombarded with sensory information such as visual and haptic (touch) feedback in our daily lives,” says Andrea Mason, PhD, assistant professor of Kinesiology and member of the UW Eye Research Institute. “We use this information when we reach out and grasp objects, when we coordinate movements with another person – like passing an object – or when we use our two hands to catch a ball.” (Next)

During his sophomore year in high school, Daniel Albert’s father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and was treated at New York’s Memorial Hospital (now part of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center). Albert, who found the cancer wards to be places filled with people in great pain, resolved that he would someday contribute to alleviating the sort of suffering he witnessed. (Next)

Alice McPherson, MD, shares a moment with Daniel Albert, MD.

When old friends get together, it is usually a time for renewing acquaintances, exchanging stories, meeting new members of the family, and reminiscing about good times. The activities and events throughout the June 8-10, 2007 visit of friends and board members of the Retina Research Foundation (RRF) in Houston, TX to the UW Eye Research Institute (ERI) fostered this same spirit. Hosted by Alice R. McPherson, MD, President and founder of the RRF and a UW alumna, the weekend provided many opportunities for education, discussion, and enjoyment. ...(Next)

Today’s scientific discoveries are increasingly made through partnerships between an assortment of scientists and scholars. Enhancing the interplay between different disciplines broadens the base of scientific knowledge and fosters new and innovative ways of thinking.

“Building connections between these scientists and scholars requires an organizational structure focused on interdisciplinary relationships,” says Daniel Albert, Director of the UW Eye Research Institute (ERI) and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “The ERI is one of the newest institutes on campus, and its members are committed to expanding opportunities for vision science research and education across campus.”...(Next)