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SUMMARY:Neuroengineering approaches applied to the investigation of photor
 eceptor degeneration and to the restoration of sight
DTSTART:20140626T100000
DTEND:20140626T110000
DTSTAMP:20260928T180756Z
UID:267546c3d29933e8a77239f0f626c639bf8b2e38a3381b90d120ac86
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Diego Ghezzi\, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia\
 , Genova IT.\nInherited retinal dystrophies\, such as Retinitis pigmentosa
 \, form a large group of genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous dise
 ases that are characterized by progressive loss of photoreceptor cells and
  concomitant loss of vision. They represent the major cause of adult blind
 ness in industrialized countries\, and despite enormous advances in the cl
 inical treatment of eye diseases\, there is no cure. After the successful 
 clinical application of cochlear implants\, bionic devices were exploited 
 in the treatment of diverse acquired or hereditary neural defects includin
 g visual impairments. However\, restoring vision can be much more complica
 ted. Nevertheless\, at least two multi-center clinical trials demonstrated
  the feasibility of retinal prostheses to restore a primitive form of ligh
 t perception.\nIn this talk I will present results in the development of a
  novel photovoltaic retinal prosthesis based on organic conducting and sem
 iconducting materials. Such polymers allowed the realization of a highly b
 iocompatible photovoltaic device\, able to accomodate the natural curvatur
 e of the subretinal space of the eye. Moreover\, the prosthesis demonstrat
 ed to be able to restore light sensitivity after implantation in a rodent 
 model of Retinitis pigmentosa. This results encouraged the testing of the 
 prosthesis in a pre-clinical study on pigs.\nBio: Dr. Diego Ghezzi graduat
 ed in Biomedical Engineering in 2004 at Politecnico di Milano. In 2005\, h
 e was appointed at the Bioengineering Department (Politecnico di Milano) w
 ith a Ph.D. fellowship\, granted from Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecn
 ologia (IIT). He obtained the Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2008 pursuing inv
 estigation on optical stimulation of neurons with Prof. Giancarlo  Ferrig
 no and working as student fellow in Prof. Flavia Valtorta laboratory (San 
 Raffaele Scientific Institute\, DIBIT\, Milano\, Italy). He joined IIT as 
 postdoctoral fellow in 2008\, working on several research projects with Dr
 . Laura Cancedda\, Dr. Paolo Medini\, and Prof. Fabio Benfenati. In 2014\,
  Dr. Diego Ghezzi has been appointed Researcher at IIT. His interests are 
 mainly related to the field of neuroengineering and neuroprosthetics appli
 ed to basic neuroscience and brain diseases. His research focused on the d
 evelopment of prosthetic solutions allowing the restoration of sight\, and
  the subsequent translation of the results in human patients. Moreover\, h
 is more recent research activities relates to the use of neuroengineering 
 approaches to investigate the impact of photoreceptor degeneration on reti
 nal and cortical circuits.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=SV%201717A
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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