Visiting Professor from Harvard University is guest at FOR 2240 and CMMC in Cologne

On 21st of June 2019 Prof. Bruce Ksander visited the DFG Research Unit FOR 2240 and the Center for Molecular Medicine at University Hospital Cologne. Prof. Ksander is Associate Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and Co-director of the MEEI Oncology Center of Excellence. His team recently demonstrated the link of ABCB5 to limbal epithelial stem cell function as well as corneal epithelium regeneration, morphogenesis and development (Ksander et al., Nature, 2014). Dr. Ksander’s group is currently working on several projects including the development of novel regenerative therapeutic strategies for the eye as well as a gene therapy approach in glaucoma. During his visit Prof. Ksander gave a lecture at CMMC with the topic: Reversal of ageing-and injury-induced vision loss by epigenetic reprogramming. He met with the principal investigators of the FOR2240 projects P1, N2 and P4 with which he has active collaborations involving respectively the role of ABCB5 in corneal neovascularization as well as pterygium and in ocular melanoma.