Bay Area Vision Research Day (BAVRD)

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September 12th, 2025

Bay Area Vision Research Day (BAVRD) is a one-day research conference devoted to bringing the vision research community of the Bay Area together in order to present and to discuss new and exciting findings in the fields of ophthalmology, optometry, biology, neuroscience, visual psychophysics, and computer vision. What distinguishes BAVRD from other conferences is that it is primarily organized and run by graduate students from the Vision Science Graduate Group at the University of California, Berkeley. This year marks the 37th annual BAVRD!

BAVRD 2025


This year, BAVRD will take place at International House on Friday, September 12th, 2025.

Schedule

Time
Agenda / Speaker / Title
9:00 – 9:30 AM
Check in (Breakfast Served)
9:30 – 9:35 AM
Introduction from Dean Bentley
9:35 – 10:00 AM
Speaker 1: Maxence Nachury, PhD (UCSF)
BBSome-Mediated Clearance of Ubiquitinated IMPG2 Defines a Constitutive Ciliary Retrieval Pathway in Photoreceptors
10:00 – 10:10 AM
Lightning Talk 1: Monica Ardon (UC Davis)
AAV-mediated gene therapy rescues cone dysfunction in mouse models of Pde6c cone disorder
10:10 – 10:20 AM
Lightning Talk 2: Paige Leary, PhD (UCSF)
Alterations in cone pathway function following severe rod loss in the mature mouse retina
10:20 – 10:45 AM
Speaker 2: Anna La Torre, PhD (UC Davis)
Mitochondrial Dysfunction Triggers Inflammation-Driven RGC Degeneration in a Mouse Model of Optic Neuropathy
10:45 – 10:55 AM
Lightning Talk 3: Niusha Kasiri, MD (UC Davis)
Searching for New Genes that Cause Usher Syndrome
10:55 – 11:15 AM
Break (Coffee & Tea Served)
11:15 – 11:40 AM
Speaker 3: Chuan Hou, MD/PhD (Smith-Kettlewell Research Institute)
Invisible image suppression across the visual hierarchy in binocular rivalry
11:40 – 11:50 AM
Lightning Talk 4: Matangi Kumar (UC Berkeley)
Lipoxin B4 Mitigates TRPV4 Activated Muller Cell Gliosis During Ocular Hypertension
11:50 – 12:50 PM
Keynote Speaker: Teresa Puthussery, PhD (UC Berkeley)
Revealing the diverse functions of primate retinal ganglion cells
12:50 – 1:50 PM
Lunch Break (Lunch Served)
1:50 – 2:15 PM
Speaker 4: Alfredo Dubra, PhD (Stanford University)
Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy: (finally) coming of age
2:15 – 2:25 PM
Lightning Talk 5: Yu Zhao (University of Nevada, Reno)
Discovery of Two New Visual Areas with Selectivity for Bodies Away from the Center of Gaze
2:25 – 2:35 PM
Lightning Talk 6: Seda Karakose-Akbiyik, PhD (Stanford University)
Spatial organization of neural responses to agentive and physical movement dynamics is reflected in intrinsic functional connectivity
2:35 – 2:45 PM
Break (Coffee & Tea Served)
2:45 – 3:10 PM
Speaker 5: Guanghan Meng, PhD (UC Berkeley)
Depth-multiplexing spectral domain optical coherence tomography for full eye length imaging
3:10 – 3:20 PM
Lightning Talk 7: Tejasvi Kothapalli (UC Berkeley)
Towards a Foundation Model for Primate Visual Cortex
3:20 – 3:30 PM
Lightning Talk 8: Haley Frey (UC Berkeley)
Active perceptual serial dependence underlies slow change blindness
3:30 – 3:40 PM
Ending Remarks
3:40 – 5:00 PM
Poster Session + Drinks Reception (Beverages & Bites Served)

Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Teresa Puthussery
Associate Professor of Optometry & Vision Science, UC Berkeley
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Dr. Alfredo Dubra
Professor of Ophthalmology, Stanford University
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Dr. Chuan Hou
Senior Scientist, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
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Dr. Maxence Nachury
Professor of Ophthalmology, UCSF
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Dr. Anna La Torre
Associate Professor, UC Davis School of Medicine
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Stay tuned for information on talk titles and abstracts, and the lightning talk speaker list as we finalize our program.

Registration


BAVRD is FREE! This year's Bay Area Vision Research Day will be in-person at the International House on the UC Berkeley campus.

Deadline: September 5th, 2025
Register

Lightning Talks & Posters


Lightning talks are 7 minutes long, followed by around 3 minutes of questions from the audience. Authors of selected abstracts will have the opportunity to showcase their work in an afternoon poster session following the main talks. All applicants are expected to be able to attend on the day of the event in person on the Berkeley campus.

Posters are expected to be 34 inches x 53 inches in landscape format. Tape will be provided onsite. At least one author is expected to present the poster during the session. Use large fonts, and minimal text. Text on posters should be comfortable to read at 5 feet away.

Deadline: August 12th, 2025
Apply

Information for Presenters


Given the interdisciplinary nature of the conference, we are striving to maximize communication across disciplines. To do this, we need your help. We ask that you try to minimize the amount of jargon and mathematics that could be potentially confusing to individuals outside your discipline, and provide clear and intuitive explanations for concepts.

Location


This year's Bay Area Vision Research Day will be in-person at the International House on the UC Berkeley campus.

Address 2299 Piedmont Ave, Berkeley, CA 94720

Where to Park
Where to Enter I-House

Thank You, 2025 Sponsors!


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