A visit from Michigan
The Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Cologne was the proud host of Dr. Lars Fritsche from the Center for Statistical Genetics at the University of Michigan, USA. On Thursday, August 27th, Prof. Langmann (right), the Vice-Speaker of the Research Unit FOR2240 and Endowed Professor of Experimental Immunology of the Eye in the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne, handed Dr. Fritsche a Certificate of Appreciation for his talk on “Lessons from Large Case-Control Studies of Age-related Macular Degeneration” (pictured with Prof. S. Fauser, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne and Principle Investigator in the DFG research unit FOR2240.)
Dr. Fritsche is a research investigator working with world-renowned statistical geneticist Prof. Gonçalo Abecasis at the University of Michigan to unravel the genetic causes of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He received his Ph.D. in Human Genetics at the University of Regensburg and has continued to work and publish on the genetics of AMD since 2005. In addition, he is spearheading large scale AMD studies (AMD Gene Consortium, International AMD Genomics Consortium) that so far have led to the discovery of over 20 novel AMD risk loci. He is also lead analyst for the Michigan Genomics Initiative and the Genes for Good project, two innovative research efforts at the University of Michigan, each aiming to engage tens of thousands of individuals in genetic research.
