2023 Boynton Lecture:  Dr. Rachel Wong

2023 Boynton Lecture: Saturday, Oct 7, 15:45

Rachel Wong, University of Washington

Wiring specificity and plasticity of the vertebrate retina

Vision relies on the output of the many functionally distinct and precisely wired circuits of the retina. Using transgenic techniques, imaging methods and electrophysiology, we seek to uncover the developmental mechanisms that help establish the wiring specificity of retinal circuits in vertebrates. Moreover, because injury or disease can cause rewiring after maturation, we are also reconstructing primate retinal circuits impacted by the loss of input, in order to identify the challenges to circuit repair.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Rachel Wong has been selected as the 2023 Boynton Lecturer.

Rachel has made numerous contributions to vision science and has a stellar mentoring and training record.  She is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington in Seattle. She was a Paul Allen Distinguished Investigator, and is a Fellow of the National Vision Research Institute, a recipient of the ARVO Friedenwald award and the B.B. Boycott Prize, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Rachel’s research centers on the development of the neural retina, using a diversity of tools including multi-electrode arrays, single-cell patch-clamp techniques, and advanced imaging. This combination has provided an unprecedented view of how the highly specific synaptic connectivity that subserves retinal function is established and maintained and how it reacts to damage. 


She’s long been a friend to the Fall Vision Meeting, and we’re thrilled to have her giving this year’s Boynton Lecture. 

The Fall Vision Meeting's Boynton Lecture was created in honor of Dr. Robert M. Boynton’s contributions to the Optica vision community. Professor Boynton (1924-2006) was the recipient of numerous awards including the Ives and Tillyer awards, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and Society of Experimental Psychologists. As a young professor at the University of Rochester, he founded the Center for Visual Science. An active member of several different committees over the course of his career, including the Edgar D. Tillyer Award Committee and the Advisory Committee the International Committee on Optics, Boynton always gave back to the field. His spirit of scientific collaboration and volunteerism was present in his teaching, as well as his own research.