Retina4Future - COST Action CA24105

Short Bio: I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology (IOB) in Basel, working in the laboratory of Professor Carlo Rivolta, a leading expert in the molecular genetics of retinal dystrophies. My research combines gene discovery in patient-derived material with an independent focus on retinal formation and cellular ultrastructure.

Short Bio: Ahmet Okay Caglayan, MD, is a Professor of Medical Genetics at Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Medicine, Türkiye. His research focuses on genomic medicine, rare genetic disorders, and translational multi-omics, encompassing whole-genome and long-read sequencing, transcriptomics, and biomarker discovery. His work aims to elucidate the molecular basis of inherited diseases and translate genomic findings into clinically actionable biomarkers and precision medicine approaches. He has extensive experience in international collaborative research, biobanking, and multi-omics data integration. His expertise is highly relevant to inherited retinal diseases, particularly in genomic diagnosis, novel biomarker discovery, and the integration of multi-omics data with advanced computational approaches to advance precision ophthalmology.

Short Bio: I am an ophthalmologist and phD student from Kaunas, Lithuania, specialising in medical retina field. My current research activities include progression of age-related macular degeneration and AI in ophthalmic imaging. I also participate in AMD clinical trials projects.

Short Bio: I conducted my PhD in Genetics after completing my Biology studies at the University of Barcelona. My doctoral work focused on elucidating the function of CERKL, a gene implicated in inherited retinal dystrophies, and included the characterization of a knockout mouse model for this gene. Afterward, I explored the role of Ubiquitin and SUMO signaling in photoreceptor cell fate determination. In October 2012, I joined the Blindness Genetic Therapy group at the Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, as a postdoctoral researcher. There, I contributed to the development of innovative therapeutic approaches based on antisense technology for inherited retinal disorders. Since January 2021, I have been leading research efforts on developing models to accelerate the development of molecular (mainly antisense olgionucleotides) therapies for retinal and neurometabolic diseases within the Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics at Radboudumc.