Centre for Ophthalmology

Institute for Ophthalmic Research

Eberhard Karls University of TuebingenCentre for OphthalmologyInstitute for Ophthalmic ResearchSchleichstr. 12–1672076 TuebingenGermany

www.uak.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de

Editor: A. WernerCover: A. Werner Layout: A. Werner & R. Hofer Printed by Maier Press, Rottenburg 2008 Centre for Ophthalmology, Institute for Ophthalmic Research

Institu

te for O

ph

thalm

ic Research

Cen

tre for O

ph

thalm

olo

gy

Co

nten

t

Overview

.................................................................................................................................5

Neu

rob

iolo

gy o

f the Eye ........................................................................................................6

Experim

ental O

ph

thalm

olo

gy ...............................................................................................7

Research

Gro

up

s associated

to Exp

erimen

tal Op

hth

almo

log

y ...........................................8

Mo

lecular G

enetics o

f Senso

ry Systems ..............................................................................11

Ocu

lar Neu

rod

egen

eration

.................................................................................................12

Section

for Exp

erimen

tal Vitreo

retinal Su

rgery .................................................................13

Experim

ental O

ph

thalm

ic Surg

ery ......................................................................................14

Research

Gro

up

Visu

al Pathw

ay: Neu

ro-O

ph

thalm

olo

gy &

Perimetry .............................15

Clin

ic for H

ereditary R

etinal D

egen

eration

........................................................................16

Clin

ical Fun

ction

Testing

......................................................................................................17

Low

Visio

n C

linic an

d R

esearch Lab

....................................................................................18

Pup

il Gro

up

...........................................................................................................................19

Research

Man

agem

ent ........................................................................................................20

Edu

cation

at the In

stitute ....................................................................................................21

Co

ntact ..................................................................................................................................22

Ho

w to

Find

Us .....................................................................................................................23

5

Overview

Th

e Institu

te for Oph

thalm

ic Research

is headed by P

rof. Dr. m

ed. E

berhart Z

renn

er and cooperates closely w

ith th

e Un

iversity Eye

Hospital (h

ead: Prof. D

r. med. K

arl Ulrich

Bartz-Sch

midt) u

nder

the com

mon

roof of the C

entre for O

phth

almology. T

he In

stitute,

foun

ded in 2007, aim

s at un

covering th

e causes for degen

erative, in

flam

matory, n

eoplastic, and vascu

lar diseases of the eye an

d the

visual pathw

ays at molecu

lar, cellular an

d systemic level.

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Karl U

lrich Bartz-Schmidt,

Director of the Eye H

ospital

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Eberhart Zrenner,

Director of the Institute

for Ophthalm

ic Research

Th

e U

niversity

Eye

Hospital

provides health

care in all areas

of oph

thalm

ology at

high

est qu

ality level

with

m

ore th

an

60.000 consu

ltations of patien

ts an

d more th

an 13.000 su

rgeries an

nu

ally. In close cooperation

w

ith th

e Institu

te, it develops n

ovel th

erapeutic

approaches

for diseases of the eye.

Th

e In

stitute

hou

ses several

teams of scien

tists wh

o work

together to develop an

d evalu-

ate con

cepts for

therapy

and

treatmen

t and optim

ise clini-

cal an

d research

diagn

ostics. T

hus, th

e Institu

te provides an

efficien

t in

frastructu

re w

hich

su

pports research an

d educa-

tion an

d mediates con

tacts to oth

er research in

stitution

s and

to indu

stry.

6

Ou

r goal is to un

cover the biological m

echan

isms of m

y-opia developm

ent an

d to develop strategies to inh

ibit its progression

. Developm

ent of n

ew optical tech

niqu

es to m

easure eye grow

th an

d optical properties of eyes in an

i-m

al models for m

yopia and in

hum

ans.

Meth

ods: Measu

remen

t of refractive state and accom

-m

odation

with

h

igh

temporal

resolution

, bin

ocularly

and in

cludin

g pupillography an

d gaze tracking: in

frared ph

otoretinoscopy;

optical m

easurem

ents

in

eyes: n

ew

phacom

etry and fast au

tomated periph

eral photorefrac-

tion; m

easurem

ent of ocu

lar dimen

sions: low

coheren

ce in

terferometry

and

A-scan

u

ltrasonography;

measu

re-m

ent of gen

e expression in

different fu

ndal layers: realtim

e R

T-P

CR

; screenin

g for candidate gen

es for myopia w

ith

mou

se and ch

icken m

icroarrays; description of activity

and gen

e expression in

individu

al cells: quan

titative im-

mu

noh

istochem

istry and laser m

icrodissection w

ith R

T

PC

R; testin

g of visual fu

nction

in tran

sgenic an

d wildtyp

e m

ice: autom

ated optomotor experim

ents an

d pupillogra-

phy; recording from

retinal gan

glion cells in

vitro: ME

A;

measu

remen

ts of

contrast

adaptation

due

to defocu

s: psych

ophysical measu

remen

t of supra-th

reshold con

trast sen

sitivity.

Recen

t major resu

lts of our research

: Dem

onstration

th

at the retin

a can detect am

oun

t and sign

of defocus an

d u

se this in

formation

to control th

e axial growth

rate of the

eye. Identifi

cation of th

e glucagon

amacrin

e cells as a ma-

jor carrier of this in

formation

and dem

onstration

that glu

-cagon

can act as an

axial eye growth

inh

ibitor in th

e chick-

en. A

nalysis of th

e central role of th

e transcription

factor E

gr1 as an in

itial trigger in th

e signallin

g cascade for visual

eye growth

control in

chicken

s and m

ice. Description

of m

echan

isms of atropin

e and oth

er mu

scarinic an

tagonists

durin

g the in

hibition

of myopia in

anim

al models. R

ole of in

sulin

durin

g myopia developm

ent. D

emon

stration of

the im

portance of periph

eral refractive errors for the de-

velopmen

t of myopia in

the cen

tral visual fi

eld in hu

man

s an

d chicken

s.

Brand C, Schaeffel F, Feldkaemper M

P. A microarray analysis of retinal transcripts that are

controlled by image contrast in m

ice. Mol Vis, 2007; 13: 920-32

Schaeffel F, Mathis U, Bruggem

ann G. Noncycloplegic photorefractive screening in pre-school

children with the „Pow

erRefractor“ in a pediatric practice. Optom

Vis Sci, 2007; 84(7): 630-9

Schippert R, Burkhardt E, Feldkaemper M

, Schaeffel F. Relative axial myopia in Egr-1 (ZEN

K) knockout m

ice. Invest Ophthalm

ol Vis Sci, 2007; 48(1): 11-7

Diether S, Schaeffel F, Lambrou G

N, Fritsch C, Trendelenburg AU. Effects of intravitreally and intraperitoneally injected atropine on tw

o types of experimental m

yopia in chicken. Exp Eye Res. 2007; 84(2): 266-74

Schippert R, Schaeffel F. Peripheral defocus does not necessarily affect central refractive de-velopm

ent. Vision Res. 2006; 46(22): 3935-40

Neu

rob

iolo

gy o

f the Eye

Prof. Dr. rer. nat.

Frank Schaeffel

Calwer Straße 7/1

72076 Tuebingen frank.schaeffel@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.uak.medizin.uni-

tuebingen.de/frank/schaeffel

7

Inh

erited retin

al degen

erations

such

as

Retin

itis P

igmen

tosa (R

P)

are a

major

cause of blin

dness in

indu

strialized coun

-tries.

In

the

Division

of

Experim

ental

Oph

thalm

ology we are seekin

g to develop treatm

ents for R

P an

d related diseases that

affect photoreceptors. W

e argue th

at neu

-roprotection

or cell replacemen

t as a sur-

vival- and fu

nction

-uph

olding regim

e is a feasible approach

to preserve fun

ctional

vision

in

patients

affected by

inh

erited retin

al degeneration

s. Based on

our fi

nd-

ings on

cell death m

echan

isms, w

e believe th

at neu

roprotective treatmen

ts combin

ed w

ith a replacem

ent of diseased cells con

-stitu

ts the m

ost promisin

g approach to

preserve and restore fu

nction

al vision.

We u

se different an

imal m

odels for RP

as w

ell as retinal explan

t cultu

res to study

signallin

g pathways th

at are involved in

photoreceptor cell death

or survival. In

-sigh

ts into th

ese mech

anism

s are crucial

for the su

ccessful developm

ent of poten

tial th

erapies. Based on

these, differen

t neu

ro-protective strategies are evalu

ated for their

capacity to prevent or delay ph

otoreceptor cell death

. An

other approach

to preserve vision

is the replacem

ent of diseased cells

by transplan

tation of retin

al progenitors

that are in

duced to differen

tiate into fu

nc-

tional ph

otoreceptors and in

tegrate into

the pre-existin

g retinal n

etworks.

Pinzon-Duarte, G., Arango-Gonzalez, B. G

uenther, E. and Kohler, K. Effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on cell survival, differentiation and patterning of neuronal connections and M

uller glia cells in the developing retina., European Journal of N

euroscience, 2004; 19: 1475-84.

Thaler, S., Rejdak, R., Dietrich, K., Ladewig, T., O

kuno, E., Kocki, T., Turski, WA.,

Junemann, A., Zrenner, E., Schuettauf, F. A selective m

ethod for transfection of retinal ganglion cells by retrograde transfer of antisense oligonucleotides against kynurenine am

inotransferase II. Mol Vis, 2006; 22(12): 100-7.

Kustermann, S., Schm

id, S., Biehlmaier, O., Kohler, K. Survival, excitability, and

transfection of retinal neurons in an organotypic culture of mature zebrafish

retina Cell Tissue Res. 2008. 332:195-209.

Paquet-Durand, F., Silva, J., Talukdar, T., Johnson, L., Azadi, S., Hauck, S., Ueffing, M

., van Veen, T., Ekström, P. Excessive activation of poly (ADP-ribose) polym

e-rase (PARP) contributes to inherited photoreceptor degeneration in the rd1 m

ouse, Journal of Neuroscience, 2007; 27: 10311-9.

Sancho-Pelluz J, Arango-Gonzalez B, Kusterm

ann S, Romero FJ, van Veen T, Zrenner

E, Ekström P, Paquet-Durand F. Photoreceptor Cell Death M

echanisms in Inheri-

ted Retinal Degeneration. Mol N

eurobiol. 2008. (Epub ahead of print).

Prof. Dr. phil. em

. Theo van Veen

Senior Consultant

Roentgenweg 11

72076 Tuebingentheo.van_veen@

med.lu.se

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Eberhart Zrenner

Director

Schleichstr. 12–16 72076 Tuebingenezrenner@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww.uak.m

edizin.uni-tuebingen.de/research

Experim

ental O

ph

thalm

olo

gy

8

Research

Gro

up

s associated

to Exp

erimen

tal Op

hth

almo

log

yC

olo

ur an

d V

isual Psych

op

hysics G

rou

p

Colou

r is a particularly sen

sitive indicator for visu

al dys-fu

nction

s. B

y developin

g soph

isticated psych

ophysical m

ethods an

d combin

ing th

em w

ith fM

RI, w

e investigate visu

al performan

ces and pathw

ays in n

ormal an

d dysfun

c-tion

al vision. C

urren

t topics inclu

de the testin

g of visual

fun

ctions in

congen

ital stationary n

ight blin

dness, visu

al defi

ciencies associated w

ith dyslexia, th

e effects of ageing

and colou

r vision at h

igh altitu

des. We also offer proce-

dures for u

se in clin

ical and research

testing. Fu

rtherm

ore, w

e investigate the fu

nction

al organization

of cortical col-ou

r processes, adaptive mech

anism

s (colour con

stancy),

and visu

o-motor in

tegration.

Bio

med

ical Eng

ineerin

g Lab

orato

ry

Th

e biomedical en

gineerin

g lab has th

ree main

areas of focu

s, clinical trials softw

are developmen

t, biosignal an

aly-sis in

ophth

almology, an

d developing retin

al prostheses by

answ

ering basic scien

tific an

d clinical qu

estions. T

he grou

p con

tributes to design

and con

duct experim

ents aim

ed at testin

g the safety an

d efficacy of Su

bretinal A

ctive Micro-

photodiode A

rrays (MP

DA

s) to replace degenerated ph

o-toreceptors in

blind hu

man

patients. B

asic research in

this

field is focu

sed on th

e un

derstandin

g of electrodynam

ic- an

d biological effects that occu

r durin

g electrostimu

lation

of the retin

a.

Dr. rer. nat. A

nnette Werner

Roentgenweg 13/1, 72076 Tuebingen

annette.werner@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.annettewerner.com

Dr. m

ed. Robert Wilke, M

Sc

Schleichstr. 12–16, 72076 Tuebingenrobert.w

ilke@m

ed.uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.biomed-engineering.de

Werner A. Color constancy im

proves, w

hen an object moves: High level

motion influences color proces-

sing. JoVis, 2008; 1: 1-14.

Werner A. The influence of depth segm

entation on

colour con-

stancy. Perception,

2006; 35:

1171-1184.

Gekeler F, Shinoda K, Blatsios G,

Werner A, Zrenner E. Scotopic

threshold responses to infrared irradiation

in cats. Vision

Res, 2005; 46: 357-364.

Werner

A. The

spatial tuning

of chrom

atic adaptation. Vision Res, 2003; 43: 1611-1623.

Werner

A, Sharpe

L, Zrenner

E. Asym

metries in the tim

e course of chrom

atic adaptation and the significance

of contrast. Vision

Res, 2000; 40: 1101-1113.

9

PD D

r. rer. nat. A

nne Kurtenbach

Frondsbergstr. 23, 72076 Tuebingenanne.kurtenbach@

uni-tuebingen.de

Th

e research of th

is group deals w

ith th

e fun

ction

of the n

ormal retin

a and th

e pathological altera-

tions associated w

ith in

herited an

d acquired retin

al disease. T

he focu

s is on th

e detection of early fu

nc-

tional alteration

s usin

g psychophysical an

d electro-physiological m

ethods.

Th

e illustration

show

s a representation

of the to-

pography of the fi

rst order kernel(left) an

d second

order, first slice, kern

el (right) respon

se amplitu

des of m

ultifocal oscillatory poten

tials over the cen

tral 50 degrees of th

e visual fi

eld. Th

e responses are

thou

ght to be gen

erated at the am

acrine-bipolar

synapses of th

e inn

er retina.

Retin

al Fun

ction

Research

Gro

up

R. Wilke

and E.

Zrenner, “Clinical

results: Thresholds and visual sensations elicited by subretinal im

plants in 8 patients,” in Proc. The Eye and the Chip W

orld Congress on Artificial Vision, 2008

R. Wilke, A. Schatz, H. Jägle, T. Strasser, H.

Benav, A. Messias, T. Peters, and E. Zrenner,

“Objective Assessm

ent of Retinal Functions of Persons W

ith Advanced Retinal Degene-ration in Clinical Trials,” Invest. O

phthalmol.

Vis. Sci. 2008 49: E-Abstract 3810

T. Strasser, G. Lotz, E. Troeger, C. Zrenner, T. Peters, B. W

ilhelm, E. Zrenner, and R. W

ilke, “An Integrated System

for Workflow

and Data M

anagement in Clinical Trials,” Invest.

Ophthalm

ol. Vis. Sci. 2008 49: E-Abstract 5216

A. Kusnyerik, U. Greppm

aier, U. Klose, K.U. Bartz-Schm

idt, R. Wilke, H. Sachs, A. Hek-

mat, A. Bruckm

ann, F. Gekeler, and E. Zren-

ner, “Preoperative 3D Planning of Implan-

tation of a Subretinal Prosthesis Using MRI

Data,” Invest. Ophthalm

ol. Vis. Sci. 2008 49: E-Abstract 3025

H. Benav, R. Wilke, A. Stett, and E. Zrenner, “A

model for tem

poral features of visual sensa-tions evoked by a subretinal electrode array for restoration of vision [Abstract].” Journal of Vision, vol. 8(6), pp. 370, 370a, 2008.

Wilke R, Bach M

, Wilhelm

B, Durst W, Trauzet-

tel-Klosinski S & Zrenner E (2007) „Testing visual

functions in

patients w

ith visual

prostheses“, in “Artificial

Sight”, edited

by Humayun M

S, Weiland JD, Chader G

& G

reenbaum E., Springer, N

ew York

Research

Gro

up

s associated

to Exp

erimen

tal Op

hth

almo

log

y

Kurtenbach A, Heine J, Jagle H. Multifocal electroretinogram

in trichromat

and dichromat observers under cone isolating conditions. Vis N

eurosci 2004;21(3):249-55.

Kurtenbach A, Mayser HM

, Jagle H, et al. Hyperoxia, hyperglycemia, and

photoreceptor sensitivity in normal and diabetic subjects. Vis N

eurosci 2006;23(3-4):651-61.

Langrova H, Jagle H, Zrenner E, Kurtenbach A. The multifocal pattern

electroretinogram (m

fPERG) and cone-isolating stim

uli. Vis Neurosci

2007;24(6):805-16.

Langrova H, Kurtenbach A, Zrenner E, Seeliger M. Age-related changes of

retinal functional topography. IOVS 2008;In print.

Kurtenbach, A. Jägle, H. Multifocal O

scillatory Potentials of the Human Retina.

In Visual Tranduction and Non-Visual Light Perception. Eds Tom

bran-Tink, J., Barnstable, C. Hum

ana Press, 2008

10

Ou

r lab combin

es imagin

g (Calciu

m Im

-agin

g, Laser Scann

ing M

icroscopy, FRE

T)

and electrophysiological tech

niqu

es (Patch

Clam

p) to study cellu

lar question

s related to retin

al sensory processin

g and m

echa-

nism

s leading to cell degen

eration in

retinal

diseases. Ou

r specific fi

elds of interest are

the calciu

m h

omeostasis in

retinal gan

glion

cells and ph

otoreceptors investigated un

der physiological an

d pathophysiological con

-dition

s.

Finally, w

e wan

t to give new

insigh

ts into

the cellu

lar mech

anism

s un

derlying diseas-

es like the au

tosomal-dom

inan

t optic nerve

atrophy or achrom

atopsia and retin

itis pig-m

entosa.

Labo

ratory fo

r Cellu

lar Electrop

hysio

log

y and

Imag

ing

Techn

iqu

es

Dr. rer. nat.

Thomas Ladew

ig

Roentgenweg 11, 72076 Tübingen

ladewig.thom

as@uni-tuebingen.de

http://ww

w.uak.m

edizin.uni-tuebingen.de/thom

as/index.htm

Reuter P, Koeppen K, Ladewig T, Kohl S, Baum

ann B, Wissinger B; Achrom

atopsia Clinical Study Group.

Mutations in CN

GA3 im

pair trafficking or function of cone cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, resul-ting in achrom

atopsia. Hum M

utat. 2008 Jun 2.

Koeppen K, Reuter P, Kohl S, Baumann B, Ladew

ig T, Wissinger B. Functional analysis of hum

an CNG

A3 m

utations associated with colour blindness suggests im

paired surface expression of channel mu-

tants A3(R427C) and A3(R563C). Eur J Neurosci. 2008 M

ay;27(9):2391-401.

Wissinger B, Dangel S, Jägle H, Hansen L, Baum

ann B, Rudolph G, Wolf C, Bonin M

, Koeppen K, La-dew

ig T, Kohl S, Zrenner E, Rosenberg T. Cone dystrophy with supernorm

al rod response is strictly associated w

ith mutations in KCN

V2. Invest Ophthalm

ol Vis Sci. 2008 Feb;49(2):751-7.

Mann M

, Haq W, Zabel T, G

uenther E, Zrenner E, Ladewig T. Age-dependent changes in the regulation

mechanism

s for intracellular calcium ions in ganglion cells of the m

ouse retina. Eur J Neurosci.

2005 Dec;22(11):2735-43.

Research

Gro

up

s associated

to Exp

erimen

tal Op

hth

almo

log

y

11

Mo

lecular G

enetics o

f Senso

ry Systems

Th

e Molecu

lar Gen

etics Laboratory h

as a well docu

men

ted research

record in th

e field of h

ereditary retinal disorders

(HR

D). B

eginn

ing in

the early 1990s w

e have establish

ed a large bioban

k of DN

A an

d RN

A sam

ples from patien

ts an

d families su

ffering from

HR

D. T

his bioban

k curren

tly com

prises ~4000 D

NA

samples of affected patien

ts and

thus represen

ts the largest sam

ple collection for H

RD

in

Germ

any. We h

ave been involved in

the fi

rst description of

several “disease genes” (C

NG

A3, C

NG

B3, G

NA

T2, P

DE

6C,

RB

P4, N

YX

) as well as n

um

erous follow

-up m

utation

screen

ings in

a variety of retinal disease gen

es and clin

i-cal su

btypes. A

noth

er main

research project focu

ses on th

e cau

ses of hereditary optic n

europath

ies. In th

e past we h

ave w

orked inten

sively on th

e matern

ally and m

itochon

drial in

herited Lebers H

ereditary Optic N

europathy (LH

ON

). C

urren

tly we are w

orking on

the au

tosomal dom

inan

tly in

herited form

s of Optic A

trophy Type Kjer (A

DO

A).

Ou

r lab was su

bstantially involved in

the iden

tification

, clon

ing an

d characterisation

of the fi

rst causative gen

e O

PA1.

Ou

r most recen

t project deals with

the iden

tification

of h

ereditary factors in glau

coma. In

the last years ou

r group

has also been

engaged in

transcript an

alyses and th

e cha-

racterization of retin

al gene prom

oters.

As th

ere is a large gap concern

ing th

e know

ledge of the

pathom

echan

isms betw

een gen

etic cause an

d clinical ph

e-n

otype, a m

ajor aim of ou

r group is to evalu

ate the physi-

ologic properties of mu

tant gen

e products. In

that con

text w

e have been

able to establish en

zymatic an

d biochem

ical assays to m

easure en

zyme activity an

d chan

nel fu

nction

of m

utan

t proteins. W

e are also workin

g on th

e charac-

terization of h

omologou

s anim

al models on

a fun

ctional,

histological an

d molecu

lar level in order to elu

cidate the

pathology of th

ese disorders and th

e un

derlying m

olecular

processes and sign

alling pathw

ays.

Alexander, C., Votruba, M., Pesch, U., Thiselton, D., M

ayer, S., Moore, T., Rodriguez,

M., Kellner, U., Leo-Kottler, B., Auburger, G., Bhattacharya, S., W

issinger, B. OPA1,

a gene encoding a dynamin-related G

TPase, is mutated in autosom

al dominant

optic atrophy linked to chromosom

e 3q28. Nat G

enet, 2000; 26: 211-5.

Tränkner, D., Jägle, H, Kohl, S., Apfelstedt-Sylla, E., Sharpe, L.T., Kaupp, U.B., Zrenner, E., Seifert, R., W

issinger, B. Molecular basis of an inherited form

of incomplete

achromatopsia. J N

eurosci, 2004; 24: 138-47.

Weisschuh, N., Dressler, P., Schuettauf. F., W

olf, C., Wissinger, B., G

ramer, E. (2006)

Novel M

utations of FOXC1 and PITX2 in Patients w

ith Axenfeld-Rieger Malfor-

mation. Invest O

phthalmol Vis Sci, 2006; 47: 3846-52.

Alavi, M., Bette, S., Schim

pf, S., Schüttauf, F., Schraermeyer, U., W

ehrl, H.F., Rüttiger, L., Beck, S.C., Tonagel, F., Pichler, B.J., Knipper, M

., Peters, T., Laufs, J., Wissinger,

B. A splice site mutation in the m

urine OPA1 features pathology of autosom

al dom

inant optic atrophy. Brain, 2007; 130: 1029-42.

Prof. Dr. rer. nat.

Bernd Wissinger

Roentgenweg 11

72076 Tuebingenw

issinger@uni-tuebingen.de

ww

w.m

gl-eye-tuebingen.de

12

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Dipl.-Ing.

Mathias Seeliger

Schleichstr. 4/3 72076 Tuebingen+

49-7071-298-0718see@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.uak.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/

neurodegen

Ou

r mission

is to un

cover the path

o-physiology

of ocu

lar n

eurodegen

era-tive processes, to develop an

d test the-

rapeutic strategies an

d to un

derstand

and

model

norm

al retin

al fu

nction

. T

he basis of ou

r work is in

-depth fu

nc-

tional an

d morph

ological phen

otyping

of genetic m

odels of blindin

g hum

an

neu

rodegenerative disorders w

ith elec-

troretinography (E

RG

), scann

ing-laser

ophth

almoscopy

(SLO),

and

optical coh

erence

tomography

(OC

T),

the

same n

on-invasive tech

niqu

es used in

affected patien

ts.

Neu

rodegeneration

research: We investigate th

e causes

of and th

e disease mech

anism

s in retin

al degeneration

s, an

d relate the fi

ndin

gs in hu

man

patients to th

ose in

anim

al models w

ith h

omologou

s genetic defects.

Also, w

e examin

e anim

al models gen

erated by groups

worldw

ide for their relevan

ce in th

is regard.

Systems biology: A

s many aspects of n

ormal retin

al fu

nction

are still un

clear, we assess fu

nction

al pathways,

particularly in

the ou

ter retina, by m

eans of m

ouse lin

es w

ith specifi

c genetic defects in

photoreceptor fu

nction

an

d/or con

nectivity.

Cross-breedin

g of

such

lin

es en

ables us to investigate isolated pathw

ays, to obtain

new

insigh

ts about th

eir natu

re and to m

odel their

behaviou

r.

Molecu

lar therapy:

Recen

t advan

ces in

th

erapeutic

research (particu

larly gene an

d stem cell th

erapy) have

led to collaborations w

ith m

any leading grou

ps on th

e evalu

ation of th

erapy in affected m

odels. Ou

r main

field

is the developm

ent of optim

al application procedu

res an

d the evalu

ation of th

e therapeu

tic success by sh

ort- an

d long-term

follow-u

p in vivo.

Methodological in

novation

and refi

nem

ent: Sin

ce more

than

a decade we are involved in

the developm

ent an

d refi

nem

ent of in

novative diagn

ostic strategies in hu

man

patien

ts and an

imal m

odels. In addition

, we are regu

larly con

tributin

g to ER

G stan

dards/guidelin

es issued by th

e In

ternation

al Society for Clin

ical Electrophysiology of

Vision

(ISCE

V).

Seeliger MW

, Grim

m C, Ståhlberg F, Friedburg C, Jaissle G,

Zrenner E, Guo H, Rem

é ChE, Humphries P, Hofm

ann F, Biel M

, Fariss RN, Redmond TM

, Wenzel A. N

ew view

s on RPE65 deficiency: the rod system

is the source of vision in a m

ouse model of Leber congenital am

aurosis. Nat G

enet 2001; 29: 70-74.

Grim

m C, W

enzel A, Groszer M

, Mayser H, Seeliger M

W, Bauer

C, Gassm

ann M, Rem

e CE. HIF-1-induced erythropoietin in the hypoxic retina protects against light-induced retinal degeneration. N

at Med 2002; 8: 718-24.

Tolmachova T, Anders R, Abrink M

, Bugeon L, Dallman M

J, Fut-ter CE, Ram

alho JS, Tonagel F, Tanimoto N, Seeliger M

W,

Huxley C, Seabra MC. Cell-autonom

ous retinal degenerati-on in a conditional knockout m

ouse model of choroidere-

mia. J Clin Invest 2006; 116: 386- 394.

Bemelm

ans AP, Kostic C, Crippa SV, Hauswirth W

W, Lem

J, Seeliger M

W, W

enzel A, Arsenijevic Y. Lentiviral-mediated

transfer of the RPE65 cDNA rescues both survival and

function of cone photoreceptors in a mouse m

odel of Le-ber congenital am

aurosis. PLoS Med 2006; 3: 1892-1903.

Hirzel K, Mueller U, Latal UT, Huelsm

ann S, Grudzinska J, See-

liger MW

, Betz H, Laube B. Hyperekplexia phenotype of glycine receptor

1 subunit mutant m

ice identifies Zn2+ as

an essential endogenous modulator of glycinergic neuro-

transmission. N

euron 2006; 52: 679-690.

Ocu

lar Neu

rod

egen

eration

13

Section

for Exp

erimen

tal Vitreo

retinal Su

rgery

We are especially in

terested in processes th

at lead to a loss of sigh

t in age-related m

acu-

lar degeneration

(AM

D). T

here are several

question

s we are w

orking on

, e.g. why does

the R

PE

partially lose its fun

ction in

elderly people? H

ow can

the fu

nction

of the R

PE

be m

aintain

ed or even restored? W

hat role

does melan

in play in

the eye? A

nd w

hat

about th

e lipofuscin

formed du

ring a life-

time? W

e recently fou

nd in

mon

key eyes th

at lipofuscin

can be rem

oved from th

e R

PE

by drug treatm

ent.

Moreover, w

e have developed a m

odel (in

rats

and

rabbits) for

VE

GF-in

duced

choroidal

neovascu

larization

in

order to

compare differen

t anti-V

EG

F strategies. We

apply several meth

ods, such

as gene th

era-py, su

bretinal tran

splantation

of genetically

modifi

ed cells (e.g., stem cells) to replace

the defective R

PE

, and adm

inistration

of th

erapeutic an

tibodies and ph

armacologic

compou

nds. A

broad range of experim

en-

tal techn

iques is perform

ed in ou

r lab on

experimen

tal anim

als, rangin

g from su

r-gery an

d drug treatm

ent, electrophysiology

(ER

G an

d VE

P), fu

nction

al diagnostics w

ith

OC

T an

d SLO, an

d fin

ally analysis of tissu

es on

histological, im

mu

noh

istochem

ical and

ultrastru

ctural

levels in

cludin

g im

mu

no-

gold and an

alytical electron m

icroscopy.

Prof. Dr. rer. nat.

Ulrich Schraerm

eyer

Schleichstraße 12/1 72076 Tuebingenulrich.schraerm

eyer@m

ed. uni-tuebingen.de

Julien S, Kreppel F, Beck S, Heiduschka P, Brito V, Schnichels S, Kochanek S, Schraermeyer U. A re-

producible and quantifiable model of choroidal neovascularization induced by VEG

F A165 after subretinal adenoviral gene transfer in the rabbit. M

ol Vis. 2008. 14:1358-72.

Arnhold S, Heiduschka P, Klein H, Absenger Y, Basnaoglu S, Kreppel F, Henke-Fahle S, Kochanek S, Bartz-Schm

idt KU, Addicks K, Schraermeyer U. Adenovirally transduced bone m

arrow strom

al cells differentiate into pigm

ent epithelial cells and induce rescue effects in RCS rats. Invest Ophthalm

ol Vis Sci. 2006. 47:4121-9.

Semkova I, Kreppel F, W

elsandt G, Luther T, Kozlowski J, Janicki H, Kochanek S, Schraerm

eyer U. Auto-logous transplantation of genetically m

odified iris pigment epithelial cells: a prom

ising concept for the treatm

ent of age-related macular degeneration and other disorders of the eye. Proc N

atl Acad Sci U S A. 2002. 99:13090-5.

Heiduschka P, Fietz H, Hofmeister S, Schultheiss S, M

ack AF, Peters S, Ziemssen F, N

iggemann B, Julien

S, Bartz-Schmidt KU, Schraerm

eyer U; Tübingen Bevacizumab Study G

roup. Penetration of beva-cizum

ab through the retina after intravitreal injection in the monkey. Invest O

phthalmol Vis Sci.

2007. 48:2814-23.

Heiduschka P, Schraermeyer U. Com

parison of visual function in pigmented and albino rats by electro-

retinography and visual evoked potentials. Graefes Arch Clin Exp O

phthalmol. 2008 Jul 25. [Epub

ahead of print].

Eibl O, Schultheiss S, Blitgen-Heinecke P, Schraermeyer U. Q

uantitative chemical analysis of ocular

melanosom

es in the TEM. M

icron. 2006. 37:262-76.

Zeiss Leo 912 omega

electron microscope

with com

plete analytical equipm

ent

Fenestrations in the choriocapillaris of a m

onkey eye

Our new

SLO and O

CT for sm

all animal use

Transduced RPE cells in an eye of a living rat view

ed by SLO

Imm

unogold-labelling of rhodopsin in a m

onkey eye

14

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Benedikt Jean

Derendinger Str. 41 72072 Tuebingenbenedikt.jean@

uni-tuebingen.de

Th

e Division

<E

xperimen

tal Oph

thalm

ic Surgery>

is one

of the very few

interdisciplin

ary research u

nits in

Eu

rope w

here oph

thalm

ologists, engin

eers, physicists and softw

are en

gineers develop con

cepts for futu

re inn

ovative diagnosis

and treatm

ent u

nder th

e roof of a Un

iversity Eye H

ospital. H

istorically, its personn

el has been

involved in th

e earliest steps of th

e developmen

t of refractive laser surgery sin

ce 1989; its con

tinu

ation is a clin

ical refractive laser un

it, spe-cialized in

complex pattern

s of visual im

pairmen

t, high

am

etropia or complicated retreatm

ents.

Ow

n h

ard- and soft-

ware

developmen

ts for

excimer lasers – partly in

cooperation

with

leading

intern

ational laser com

-pan

ies - as well as an

own

tech

nology platform

for advan

ced h

igh

resolu-

tion corn

eal topography

allow

for in

dividualized

custom

treatm

ents,

often

not

available elsewh

ere.

Presen

t research focu

ses on a sim

ultan

eous total eye

morph

ometry system

and th

e first m

odel of a real data based <

Individu

al virtual eye>

(Real R

ay Tracing), en

a-blin

g the plan

nin

g and calcu

lation of com

bined refractive

laser- and IO

L- based procedures; it likew

ise provides a ba-sis for th

e calculation

of futu

re true in

dividually optim

ised IO

Ls. Oth

er research topics in

clude m

odels, studies an

d application

s of laser tissue in

teraction in

the U

V an

d IR

spectral range, on

-line feedback con

cepts for optimisin

g laser treatm

ent param

eters and O

CT

research an

d imag-

ing.T

he division

´s interdisciplin

ary approach provides at-

tractive opportun

ities for youn

g physicists and en

gineers

on th

eir way to gradu

ation, M

A or P

hD

qualifi

cations in

the

neigh

bourh

ood of experimen

tal and clin

ical medicin

e.

Running cooperations w

ith Univ. of

Vienna, M

edical Physics; B

elarus-sian

Institute of

System

Analysis,

Minsk.

Jean B, Bende T. Photoablation of gelatin with the free-electron laser betw

een 2.7 and 6.7 m

icrons. J Refract Corneal Surg. 1994 Jul-Aug;10(4):433-8.

Pustovalov VK, Jean B. Melanin granule m

odels for the processes of laser-induced thermal

damage in pigm

ented retinal tissues. I. Modeling of laser-induced heating of m

elanoso-m

es and selective thermal processes in retinal tissues. Bull M

ath Biol. 2007 Jan;69(1): 245-63. Epub 2006 Jul 19.

Jean B, Bende T. Zum Stand der infraroten Photoablation der Hornhaut. Klin M

onatsbl Augen-heilkd. 1999 Apr;214(4):195-202.

Einighamm

er J, Oltrup T, Bende T, Jean B. Calculating intraocular lens geom

etry by real ray tracing. J Refract Surg. 2007; 23(4):393-404.

Jean B, Bende T: Infrared Lasers – Therapeutic Applications: In: Ophthalm

ic Clinics of North

America, 1998 11(2): 243-55.

Experim

ental O

ph

thalm

ic Surg

ery

15

Detection

of fun

ctional an

d morph

ological interrelation

-sh

ip of circum

scribed visual pathw

ay lesions, in

order to evalu

ate their n

atural cou

rse and in

dividual effect as w

ell as to facilitate statem

ents in

regard to indication

and prog-

nosis of th

erapeutical m

ethods. C

linical stu

dies concern

ing

glaucom

a, neu

roprotective strategies and early diagn

osis of tu

mou

rs affecting th

e visual pathw

ay are pursu

ed by re-fi

ned tech

niqu

es of visual fi

eld assessmen

t developed by the

group.

- Investigation

of the fu

nction

al and m

orphological in

ter-relation

of lesions in

the ascen

ding visu

al system aim

ing

at un

derstandin

g the con

sequen

ces for prognosis

- D

evelopmen

t of

semi-au

tomated

kinetic

perimetry

(SKP

), wh

ich allow

s for a considerable stan

dardization

of kinetic perim

etry with

additional assessm

ent of an

d correction

for individu

al reaction tim

e of a patient

- G

erman

adaptive thresh

old estimatin

g (GA

TE

): develop-m

ent of a fast static perim

etric thresh

olding algorith

m,

wh

ich is in

dependen

t of stimu

lus grids an

d applicable to all kin

ds of ophth

almologic path

ologies

- E

nh

anced evalu

ation an

d visualization

of progressive visu

al field loss, u

sing poin

twise lin

ear regression (P

LR),

event an

alysis and oth

er procedures

- V

isual

Field R

eading

Cen

ter for

mu

lticenter

clinical

studies (con

sultation

service, certification

service, data processin

g service, data analysis, reports)

- Scotom

a oriented perim

etry (SCO

PE

): application of

individu

ally conden

sed grid for locally enh

anced spatial

resolution

, especially in glau

comatou

s optic neu

ropathy (in

co-operation w

ith th

e Ham

ilton G

laucom

a Cen

ter, U

niversity of C

alifornia, San

Diego)

- A

ssessmen

t of compen

satory exploration an

d driving

performan

ce un

der “virtual reality con

ditions” in

pa-tien

ts sufferin

g from h

omonym

ous visu

al field defects

Prof. Dr. m

ed. U

lrich Schiefer

Schleichstr. 12–16 72076 Tuebingen ulrich.schiefer@

med.uni-tuebingen.de

ww

w.visual-pathw

ay.de

Research

Gro

up

Visu

al Pathw

ay: N

euro

-Op

hth

almo

log

y & Perim

etry

Now

omiejska K, Vonthein R, Pätzold J, Zagorski Z, Kardon R, Schiefer U (2005) Com

parison betw

een semi-autom

ated kinetic perimetry and conventional G

oldmann m

anual kine-tic perim

etry in advanced visual field loss. Ophthalm

ology 112:1343-54

Schiefer U, Now

omiejska K, Krapp E, Pätzold J. Johnson CA (2006) K-Train – a com

puter-based, interactive training program

with an incorporated certification system

for practi-cing kinetic perim

etry: evaluation of acceptance and success rate, Graefes Arch Clin Exp

Ophthalm

ol, 244(10): 1300-1309

Schreiber A, Vonthein R, Reinhard J, Trauzettel-Klosinski S, Connert C, Schiefer U (2006) Effect of Visual Restitution Training on Absolute Hom

onymous Scotom

as, Neurology

67: 143-145

Pascual JP, Schiefer U, Pätzold J, Zangwill LM

, Tavares IM, W

einreb RN, Sample PA (2007)

Spatial characteristics of visual field progression determined by M

onte Carlo simulation:

diagnostic innovations in glaucoma study, Invest O

phthalmol Vis Sci 48: 1642-1650

Papageorgiou E, Ticini LF, Hardiess G, Schaeffel F, Wiethoelter H, M

allot HA, Bahlo S, Wil-

helm B, Vonthein R, Schiefer U, Karnath HO

(2008) The pupillary light reflex pathway

- Cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps in hem

ianopic patients, Neurology 70:956–963

16

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Eberhart Zrenner

Director

Schleichstr. 12–16 72076 Tuebingenezrenner@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww.uak.m

edizin.uni-tuebingen.de/ research

Hereditary

retinal

degeneration

s, e.g.

retinitis pigm

entosa (R

P), are th

e most

comm

on

cause

of blin

dness

in

youn

g adu

lts. Since 1989 a special clin

ic for pa-tien

ts sufferin

g the variou

s forms of th

ese diseases

has

been

established

with

th

e aim

to help elu

cidating th

e causative gen

e m

utation

s, to develop elaborate meth

ods of fu

nction

testing for correct diagn

osis an

d to advise and treat patien

ts. Novel

meth

ods of electrophysiology and im

ag-in

g techn

iques h

ave been developed to al-

low for m

ultim

odal mappin

g and refi

ned

phen

otype

analysis.

Approxim

ately 500

patients

are investigated

and

coun

seled an

nu

ally. In close cooperation

with

the

Molecu

lar Gen

etics laboratory of the In

sti-tu

te, the D

NA

of these patien

ts is analyzed

in con

jun

ction w

ith th

e clinical research

grou

p, supported by th

e Germ

an research

cou

ncil sin

ce 2005. Th

is allows n

ot only

for classifyin

g patien

ts in

carefu

l stu

d-ies bu

t for establishin

g a huge n

etwork of

cooperation w

ith oth

er special RP

clinics

and m

olecular gen

etic laboratories. Th

is h

as led to the discovery of m

any new

genes

and to m

ajor contribu

tions in

developing

novel th

erapeutic strategies based eith

er on

ph

armacological

agents

or m

edical devices. Sin

ce 1995 a subretin

al mu

ltipho-

todiode chip h

as been developed, carefu

lly investigated in

anim

al experimen

ts and

applied in th

e mean

time in

a clinical stu

dy th

at has sh

own

the feasibility of th

is ap-proach

to restore usefu

l visual sen

sations

in com

pletely blind R

P patien

ts.

Clin

ic for

Hered

itary Retin

al Deg

eneratio

n

Dr. m

ed. A

ntje Bernd

Schleichstr. 12–16 72076 TuebingenAntje.Bernd@

med.uni-tuebingen.de

ww

w.uak.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/

research

Zrenner E. Will Retinal Im

plants Restore Vision? Science. 2002. 295:1022-1025.

Zrenner E. THE 2007 EMIKO

ADACHI AWARD LECTURE: Restoring neuroretinal function: new

potentials. Doc O

phthalmol. 2007. 115:56-59.

Kitiratschky VB, Grau T, Bernd A, Zrenner E, Jägle H, Renner AB, Kellner U, Rudolph G, Jacobson SG,

Cideciyan AV, Schaich S, Kohl S, Wissinger B. ABCA4 gene analysis in patients w

ith autosomal

recessive cone and cone rod dystrophies. Eur J Hum G

enet. 2008. 16:812-819.

Gekeler F, Szurm

an P, Grisanti S, W

eiler U, Claus R, Greiner TO, Völker M

, Kohler K, Zrenner E, Bartz-Schm

idt KU. Compound subretinal prosthesis w

ith extra-ocular parts designed for human tri-

als: successful long-term im

plantation in pigs. Graefe‘s Arch Clin Exp. 2007. 245:230-241.

Eckhorn R, Wilm

s M, Schanze T, Eger M

, Hesse L, Eysel UT, Kisvarday ZF, Zrenner E, Gekeler F, Sch-

wahn H, Shinoda K, Sachs H, W

alter P. Visual resolution with retinal im

plants estimated from

recordings in cat visual cortex. Vision Research. 2006. 46:2675-2690.

17

Th

e aim of C

linical Fu

nction

Testing is to access th

e fun

c-tion

of the variou

s parts of the ascen

ding an

d descendin

g visu

al pathway by refi

ned m

ethods of psych

ophysics, elec-trophysiology an

d imagin

g. Em

phasis is placed on

furth

er developm

ent of su

ch m

ethods as w

ell as its application in

patien

ts with

lesions of th

e visual pathw

ays. Th

is inclu

des also th

e determin

ation of n

ormal valu

es in large coh

orts of volu

nteers as w

ell as the developm

ent of stan

dardization,

inclu

ding stan

dard operating protocols an

d application

in m

onocen

ter and m

ulticen

ter clinical stu

dies. Meth

ods in

clude A

utofl

uorescen

ce, Optical C

oheren

ce Tomogra-

phy (OC

T), E

lectroretinography, R

od-ER

G, C

one-E

RG

, O

N-O

FF ER

G, M

ultifocal E

lectroretinography O

N-O

FF M

ultifocal E

RG

, Electroocu

lography, refin

ed Static and

Kin

etic Perimetry, V

isual Evoked C

ortical Potentials, an

d P

upillography .

We exam

ine patien

ts with

hereditary diseases of th

e retin

a and optic n

erve, toxic lesions of th

e visual system

, loss of fu

nction

due to glau

coma, stroke, trau

ma, tu

mou

rs an

d degenerative diseases. P

resently stu

dies are done on

glau

coma, R

etinitis P

igmen

tosa patients, an

d restitution

of vision

in blin

d by subretin

al microph

otodiode arrays.

Clin

ical Fun

ction

Testing

Wissinger B, Dangel S, Jägle H, Hansen L, Baum

ann B, Rudolph G, Wolf C, Bonin M

, Koeppen K, Ladew

ig T, Kohl S, Zrenner E, Rosenberg T.-Cone Dystrophy with Supernorm

al Rod res-ponse Is Strictly Associated w

ith Mutations in KCN

V2. Investigative Ophthalm

ology & Visual Science;Vol:49 N

o:2, S.751-757 (2008)

Langrová H, Jägle H, Zrenner E, Kurtenbach A. The multifocal pattern electroretinogram

(mfPERG

) and cone-isolating stim

uli. Visual Neuroscience. 2007. 24:805-816.

Shinoda K, Rejdak R, Schuettauf F, Blatsios G, Völker M, Tanim

oto N, Olcay T, G

ekeler F, Lehaci C, N

askar R, Zagorski Z, Zrenner E. Early electroretinographic features of streptozotocin-induced diabetic retinopathy. Clincal and Experim

ental Ophthalm

ology 35, 9:847-54 (2007)

Zrenner E. Restoring neuroretinal function: new potentials. Doc O

phthalmol 115:56-59, (2007)

Schuster A, Janecke AR, Wilke R, Schm

id E, Thompson DA, Uterm

ann G, Wissinger B, Zrenner E, G

al A.The Phenotype of Early-O

nset Retinal Degeneration in Persons with RDH12 M

utations. Invest. O

phthalm. & Vis. Sci., Vol. 48, N

o. 4 (2006)

Kurtenbach A, Mayser,H.M

, Jägle H, Fritsche A, Zrenner E. Hyperoxia, hyperglycemia, and photore-

ceptor sensitivity in normal and diabetic subjects. Visual N

euroscience (2006),23, 651-661

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Eberhart Zrenner

Director

Schleichstr. 12–16 72076 Tuebingenezrenner@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww.uak.m

edizin.uni-tuebingen.de/ research

18

Th

is group focu

ses on th

e assessmen

t, optimization

and

rehabilitation

of visual fu

nction

s, wh

ich are relevan

t for daily livin

g skills, such

as reading an

d orientation

. In th

e research

lab, the m

ain focu

s lies on th

e analysis of readin

g disorders an

d motor con

trol, eye movem

ent recordin

g (by video eye tracker an

d Scann

ing Laser O

phth

almoscope) in

patien

ts with

visual fi

eld defects, psychophysical m

ethods

and developm

ent of stan

dardized low vision

tests.

An

other grou

p of patients are ch

ildren w

ith develop-

men

tal dyslexia.

Th

e residual fu

nction

in patien

ts with

visual im

pairmen

t is exam

ined in

order to analyze cortical adaptive m

echa-

nism

s and to optim

ize the fu

nction

by mean

s of visual

aids and n

ew train

ing program

s. In th

e Low V

ision C

linic

the patien

ts receive detailed diagnostics, con

sultin

g, visual

aids and train

ing. T

he Low

Vision

Clin

ic and R

esearch Lab

are interlocked very closely an

d have an

active netw

ork of in

terdisciplinary an

d intern

ational cooperation

.

Trauzettel-Klosinski S, Reinhard J. The vertical field border in human hem

ianopia and its significance for fixation behavior and reading. Invest O

phthalmol Vis Sci 1998 ; 39: 2177-86

Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Reading disorders due to visual field defects - a neuroophthalmological view

. Neuro-

Ophthalm

ology 2002; 27(1-3): 79-90

Reinhard J, Schreiber A, Schiefer U, Sabel BA, Kasten E, Kenkel S, Vonthein R, Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Does visual restitution training change absolute hom

onymous scotom

a? British Journal of Ophthalm

ology, 2005; 89: 30-5

Trauzettel-Klosinski S, Dürrwächter U, Klosinski G, Braun C. Cortical activation during w

ord reading and picture nam

ing in dyslexic and non-reading-impaired children. Clinical N

europhysiol, 2006; 117: 1085-97

Reinhard J, Messias A, Dietz K, M

acKeben M, Lackm

ann R, Scholl HPN, Apfelstedt-Sylla E, Weber BHF, Seeliger

M, Zrenner E, Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Q

uantifying fixation in patients with Stargardt disease, Vision Research,

2007; 47: 2076–85

Messias A, Reinhard J, Cruz A, Dietz K, M

acKeben M, Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Eccentric fixation in Stargardt´s

disease - assessed by Tuebingen Perimetry. Invest O

phthalmol Vis Sci, 2007; 48(12): 5815-22

Nguyen N

X, Weism

ann M, Trauzettel-Klosinski S. Spectrum

of ophthalmologic and social rehabilitation at the

Tübinger Low-Vision Clinic. A retrospective analysis for 1999–2005 O

phthalmologe 2008 105: 563-569

Low

Visio

n C

linic an

d R

esearch Lab

Prof. Dr. m

ed. Susanne Trauzettel-Klosinski

Osianderstr. 5

72076 Tuebingensusanne.trauzettel-klosinski@

med.

uni-tuebingen.de

19

Prof. Dr. m

ed. H

elmut W

ilhelm

Osianderstr. 6

72076 Tuebingenw

ilhelm@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.helmut-w

ilhelm.de

Th

e pupil provides plen

ty of inform

ation abou

t vision,

emotion

al state, vigilance state an

d fun

ction of th

e auto-

nom

ic nerve system

. Th

e Pu

pil Research

Grou

p does ba-sic an

d clinical research

and applies special kn

owledge in

clin

ical routin

e. Th

e afferent visu

al system is exam

ined by

the sw

ingin

g flash

light test, even

with

an au

tomated pu

pil-lograph

ic meth

od that h

as been developed by th

is group.

Addition

ally a pupillograph

ic pupil cam

pimetry h

as been

developed. Th

is is used in

basic research to provide a better

un

derstandin

g of the visu

al pathways, in

clinical research

to develop early diagn

ostic procedures in

glaucom

a and in

daily rou

tine clin

ic as an objective perim

etric tool to dis-close m

alingerin

g.

Pu

pillography is done by differen

t devices to obtain

objective inform

a-tion

about retin

al fun

ction, e.g. in

patien

ts w

ith

subretin

al im

plants

and to investigate differen

t branch

es of th

e visual system

.

A

major

topic in

research

an

d clin

ical application is pu

pillographic

testing of cen

tral nervou

s activation

by mean

s of the P

upillograph

ic Sleepiness Test, P

ST, wh

ich

has been

developed and paten

ted by this grou

p. Pu

pillary oscillation

s in darkn

ess provide direct inform

ation abou

t th

e state of the cen

tral sympath

etic nervou

s system an

d al-low

objective assessmen

t of the alertn

ess level. Qu

antitative

analysis of pu

pillary oscillations in

darkness h

as opened

a wide fi

eld of research an

d clinical application

s. Both

in

occupation

al medicin

e and ph

armacological research

PST

gives in

sight on

the effects of w

orking environ

men

ts and

drugs in

flu

encin

g wakefu

lness. In

sleep medicin

e the P

ST

has already becom

e a routin

e clinical application

and is

provided by this grou

p as a service for other clin

ics with

in

and ou

tside the U

niversity H

ospital.

Th

e Neu

ro-ophth

almology clin

ic serves as a coun

try-w

ide reference cen

tre for pupillary disorders by applyin

g all diagn

ostic features provided by th

e pupil grou

p.

Pup

il Gro

up

Wilhelm

H. The pupil.Curr Opin N

eurol. 2008 Feb; 21(1):36-42.

Wilhelm

BJ, Wilhelm

H, Moro S, Barbur JL. Pupil response com

ponents: studies in patients w

ith Parinaud’s syndrome.Brain. 2002 O

ct;125 (Pt 10):2296-307.

Wilhelm

H, Wilhelm

B. Clinical applications of pupillography. J Neurooph-

thalmol. 2003 M

ar;23(1):42-9. Review.

Wilhelm

H, Peters T, Lüdtke H, Wilhelm

B. The prevalence of relative afferent pupillary defects in norm

al subjects.J Neuroophthalm

ol. 2007 Dec;27(4):263-7.

Wilhelm

B, Wilhelm

H, Lüdtke H, Streicher P, Adler M (1998) Pu-

pillographic assessment of sleepiness in sleep-deprived healthy

subjects. Sleep 21, 258-265

20

In th

e course of an

increased n

ational an

d intern

ational

crosstalk in R

&D

, the requ

iremen

ts on th

e professional or-

ganization

and m

anagem

ent of th

e Institu

te for Oph

thal-

mic R

esearch are m

andatory. In

order to ensu

re the h

igh

competitiven

ess and th

e quality of th

e research, th

e scien-

tists need effi

cient in

strum

ents as provided by th

e ‘Un

it for R

esearch M

anagem

ent (U

RM

; Stabsstelle Wissen

schafts-

man

agemen

t (SWM

))’.

Th

e UR

M su

pervises a wide an

d diverse portfolio of lo-cal, n

ational an

d intern

ational projects, in

cludin

g several E

C-projects. Its team

is cooperating w

ith n

early hun

dred research

-partners in

all Eu

ropean cou

ntries. T

he U

nit for

Research

Man

agemen

t at the In

stitute for O

phth

almic R

e-search

initiated n

um

erous application

s and is presen

tly

involved in th

e coordination

of 12 intern

ational research

projects. Som

e of the projects coordin

ated by the U

RM

are exclu

sively dedicated to transfer of kn

owledge an

d th

e trainin

g of youn

g researchers. T

he U

RM

has proved

its ability to man

age successfu

lly and effectively th

is level of diversity an

d consists of an

established team

of profes-sion

al project man

agers, wh

o are focused on

professional,

cost effective and effi

cient scien

ce-driven m

anagem

ent.

Wheeler-Schilling, Hoffm

ann, Bhattacharya. Education: the m

ost powerful tool for progression and excellence in Euro-

pe. Ophthalm

ology Times Europe, 2007; 3(2): 33-7

Wheeler-Schilling, Zrenner, Schiefer. Integrated approach to the prom

otion of young academics in vision research at a

European level. Ophthalm

ologe, 2006; 103: 104-8

Zrenner, Cunha-Vaz, Sahel, Sillito, Scholl, Wheeler-Schilling.

The European Vision Institute: Opening up new

frontiers? O

phthalmologe, 2006; 103: 100-3

Scholl, Wheeler-Schilling, Zrenner, Holz: Establishing ophthal-

mology in the fram

ework program

mes of the European

Union, Ophthalm

ologe, 2006; 103: 91-9

Dr. rer. nat.

Thomas H

. Wheeler-Schilling

Roentgenweg 11

72076 Tuebingenthom

as.wheeler-schilling@

uni-tuebingen.dew

ww

.uak-swm

.de

Research

Man

agem

ent

Institu

te and

Local Level

Fun

d raisin

gC

on

sultin

gD

ata inq

uiry

Data co

llection

Gran

t app

lication

Pro

ject man

agem

ent

Finan

ce adm

inistratio

nA

dm

inistratio

nIT-In

frastructu

reD

issemin

ation

&d

emo

nstratio

nM

eeting

sTrain

ing

Perso

nn

el servicesIn

divid

ual co

nsu

lting

Career d

evelop

men

t plan

Young researchers promotion

Trainin

g

Fou

nd

ation

s

BM

BF

DFG

DA

AD

fortü

ne

Hospital adm

inistration dept.

Local p

ub

lic auth

ority

Datab

ase & In

ternet

Pub

lication

s

Repo

rts

Training module developm

ent

Evaluatio

n

Co

-op

eration

and

exch

ang

e with

in

ternatio

nal p

artners

un

d research

ers

Edu

cation

and

trainin

g o

fth

e You

ng

Researchers

Natio

nal an

d In

ternatio

nal Level

EUB

MB

F

DFG

EU C

om

missio

n

Natio

nal &

Intern

ation

alPartn

ers

Intern

et

Pub

lication

s

Repo

rts

Training module developm

ent

Evaluatio

n

Co

-op

eration

and

exch

ang

e with

in

ternatio

nal p

artners

un

d research

ers

Edu

cation

and

trainin

g o

fth

e You

ng

Researchers

Strategy | N

etwo

rkin

g | In

no

vation

| Lob

byin

g | Exp

ertise | Ideas

21

Th

e Research

Institu

te offers nu

merou

s trainin

g activities for stu

dents from

medicin

e as well as from

biology and

other related n

atural scien

ces. Th

e trainin

g ranges from

teach

ing in

Oph

thalm

ology to specialist worksh

ops on ap-

plied meth

ods (e.g. the fam

ous FU

N cou

rse, an in

teractive cou

rse for application of advan

ced neu

ro-ophth

almolo-

gical techn

iques; B

asic Science C

ourse in

Vision

, Research

C

olloqium

, Lab R

otation P

rogram, G

laucom

a worksh

op; In

teractive courses on

[kinetic] perim

etry, fun

ction testin

g in

neu

ro-ophth

almology, E

lectroretinography C

ourse) as

well as soft skills, su

ch as project an

d laboratory man

age-m

ent.

Trainin

g at the C

entre for O

phth

almic R

esearch h

as in

the past received top evalu

ations in

the Tu

evalon ran

kings.

Prof. D

r. med. U

. Schiefer h

as been aw

arded the m

edal for excellen

ce in teach

ing from

the State of B

aden-W

uerttem

-berg. T

he In

stitute also participates in

lectures an

d courses

at the G

raduate Sch

ool for Neu

ral and B

ehaviou

ral Neu

-roscien

ces, Max-P

lanck-R

esearch Sch

ool, and th

e faculty

of biology. Several theses D

octoral Studen

ts have been

m

arked with

a sum

ma cu

m lau

da from th

e faculty of biol-

ogy and m

edicine.

Edu

cation

at the In

stitute

22

Un

iversity of Tuebin

gen

Cen

tre for Ophthalm

ology In

stitute for O

phthalmic R

esearchSch

leichstr. 12–16

72076 Tuebin

genG

ermany

ww

w.u

ak.medizin

.un

i-tuebin

gen.de/research

Director:

Prof. D

r. med. E

berhart Zren

ner

Offi

ce:Sabin

e Hailfi

nger

Tel: +49(0)7071 29 84786

Fax: +49(0)7071 29 5038

E-m

ail: sabine.h

ailfin

ger@klin

ikum

.un

i-tuebin

gen.de

Prof. D

r. phil. em. T

heo van V

een, Sen

ior Con

sultan

t Professor

Offi

ce:B

arbara Hu

thTel: +

49(0)7071 29 84021Fax: +

49(0)7071 29 5777E

-mail: barbara.hu

th@

kliniku

m.u

ni-tu

ebingen

.de

Scientifi

c Co-ordin

ator:D

r. Mich

aela Bitzer

Tel.: +49 (0)7071 29 80733

Fax: +49(0)7071 29 4470

E-m

ail: mich

aela.bitzer@klin

ikum

.un

i-tuebin

gen.de

Co

ntact

23

Ho

w to

Find

Us

1

23 4

57

6

1 Schleichstr. 12–16: Clinical Function Testing,

Biomedical Engeneering Laboratory,

Research Group Visual Pathw

ay

2 Schleichstr. 12/1: Section for Experim

ental Vitreoretinal Surgery

3 Schleichstr. 4/3: O

cular Neurodegeneration

4 Osianderstr. 5:

Low Vision Clinic and Research Lab,

Pupil Group

5 Calwerstr. 7/1:

Neurobiology of the Eye

6 Röntgenweg 11:

Research Managem

ent,

M

oleculal Genetic of Sensory System

s,

Experim

ental Ophthalm

ology

7 Röntgenweg 13:

Colour and Visual Psycho Physics Group

2008