Hanmeng Zhang

As an undergraduate student, I joined a lab in the research area of exercise and cerebro-cardiovascular functional regulation. My work focused mainly on the effects of aging on the biophysical properties of K+ channel in rat mesenteric arterial smooth muscle cells and the effects of aerobic exercise on PKC in SHR vascular myocytes. Following my undergraduate education, I joined Dr. Wong-Riley's lab at MCW and the main focus of my research was the important role that BDNF plays ni the hypoglossal nucleus and visual cortex during the critical periods of postnatal development. In 2016, I began my graduate school training at MCW in NDP under the supervision of Dr. Lipinski.

My graduate work will focus on the development of gene therapy strategies to prevent cone photoreceptor loss secondary to advanced rod degeneration in retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a highly heterogeneous disease, with over 40 different loci reported, and so I will focus on designing gene-independent strategies to prevent vision loss, irrespective of underlying genetic etiology.