“Justin is an enthusiastic and detail oriented student liaison. In my dealings with Justin, he has shown good leadership skills and is not afraid to take charge of any endeavor presented to him.”
About
Motivated by a profound concern for vulnerable populations and ecosystems, Justin is…
Experience & Education
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Resilient Earth Capital
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Publications
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Atoh7-independent specification of retinal ganglion cell identity
Science Advances
See publicationRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs) relay visual information from the eye to the brain. RGCs are the first cell type generated during retinal neurogenesis. Loss of function of the transcription factor Atoh7, expressed in multipotent early neurogenic retinal progenitors leads to a selective and essentially complete loss of RGCs. Therefore, Atoh7 is considered essential for conferring competence on progenitors to generate RGCs. Despite the importance of Atoh7 in RGC specification, we find that…
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) relay visual information from the eye to the brain. RGCs are the first cell type generated during retinal neurogenesis. Loss of function of the transcription factor Atoh7, expressed in multipotent early neurogenic retinal progenitors leads to a selective and essentially complete loss of RGCs. Therefore, Atoh7 is considered essential for conferring competence on progenitors to generate RGCs. Despite the importance of Atoh7 in RGC specification, we find that inhibiting apoptosis in Atoh7-deficient mice by loss of function of Bax only modestly reduces RGC numbers. Single-cell RNA sequencing of Atoh7;Bax-deficient retinas shows that RGC differentiation is delayed but that the gene expression profile of RGC precursors is grossly normal. Atoh7;Bax-deficient RGCs eventually mature, fire action potentials, and incorporate into retinal circuitry but exhibit severe axonal guidance defects. This study reveals an essential role for Atoh7 in RGC survival and demonstrates Atoh7-dependent and Atoh7-independent mechanisms for RGC specification.
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Atoh7-independent specification of retinal ganglion cell identity
BioRxiv
See publicationRetinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which relay visual information from the eye to the brain, are the first cell type generated during retinal neurogenesis. Loss of function of the transcription factor Atoh7, which is expressed in multipotent early neurogenic retinal progenitor cells, leads to a selective and near complete loss of RGCs. Atoh7 has thus been considered essential for conferring competence on progenitors to generate RGCs. However, when apoptosis is inhibited in Atoh7-deficient mice by…
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), which relay visual information from the eye to the brain, are the first cell type generated during retinal neurogenesis. Loss of function of the transcription factor Atoh7, which is expressed in multipotent early neurogenic retinal progenitor cells, leads to a selective and near complete loss of RGCs. Atoh7 has thus been considered essential for conferring competence on progenitors to generate RGCs. However, when apoptosis is inhibited in Atoh7-deficient mice by loss of function of Bax, only a modest reduction in RGC number is observed. Single-cell RNA-Seq of Atoh7;Bax-deficient retinas shows that RGC differentiation is delayed, but that RGC precursors are grossly normal. Atoh7;Bax-deficient RGCs eventually mature, fire action potentials, and incorporate into retinal circuitry, but exhibit severe axonal guidance defects. This study reveals an essential role for Atoh7 in RGC survival, and demonstrates Atoh7-independent mechanisms for RGC specification.
Honors & Awards
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Society for Developmental Biology Best Graduate Poster Competition, Honorable Mention at 2017 Society for Developmental Biology Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN
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Society for Developmental Biology Student/Postdoc Travel Award for the 2017 Society for Developmental Biology Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN
Society for Developmental Biology (SDB)
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National Eye Institute Travel Grant for the 2017 annual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Conference in Baltimore, MD
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
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1st place member in training poster award in the Visual Neuroscience section at the ARVO annual meeting in Orlando, Fl
Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology
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Victor Corces teaching award for excellence while teaching assistant for Genetics
Johns Hopkins University, Biology Departement
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2nd place poster award in the Molecular category at the American Society for Microbiology regional meeting in Clearfield, PA
American Society for Microbiology
Languages
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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Mandarin Chinese
Elementary proficiency
Organizations
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Top Tier Impact
Member
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AAAS (American Association for Advancement of Science)
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Society for Developmental Biology (SDB)
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Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
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The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
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American Society for Microbiology
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