Optic Nerve Network is a new network to connect physicians with an interest in the optic nerve.
Please register and we will keep you updated on relevant optic nerve topics.
Contact: gerard@orangebrain.eu
Steering Committee
Dr. Piero Barboni
MD
E-mail: p.barboni@studiodazeglio.it
Affiliations
- consultant ophthalmologist at Scientific Institute San Raffaele, University of Milan
- consultant ophthalmologist at Ospedale Bellaria, University of Bologna
- private practice at Studio Oculistico d’Azeglio, Bologna
Biosketch
Born in Chieti (Italy) on January 8th 1960, Piero Barboni earned an MD in 1986 at the University of Bologna, Italy, where he completed his residency in Ophthalmology in 1990.
Appointed professor at the Department of Neurological Science of Bologna University from 2007 to 2011.
Currently, he is consultant ophthalmologist at Scientific Institute San Raffaele, University of Milan since 2012 and consultant ophthalmologist at Ospedale Bellaria, University of Bologna since 2016
Private practice at Studio Oculistico d’Azeglio, Bologna
He is also devoted to the study of hereditary optic neuropathies, for which he collaborates with several university-based centers (University of Bologna, University of South California, Los Angeles, USA, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil). These projects includes:
- Concerted action of european comunities “Prevention of blindness: molecular research and medical care in retinitis pigmentosa” 1990-1993
- The international research project on Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy in Brazil, sine 2005
- Mitochondrial Disease Working Group Member for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Common Data Element (CDE) Project
Since 1991 he has been working in private practice, with specific attention to the anterior segment surgery, including phacoemulsification, glaucoma surgery and excimer laser (FemtoLASIK and PRK). He is also expert in vitroretinal surgery. Since 1993 he has been invited as a surgeon to over 10 live surgery meetings; he has also participated as a faculty member to more than 50 national and international meetings and organized courses at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS). Winner of the Best Paper of Session at 1996 ASCRS. Promoter of European Network on optic nerve degeneration (2016)
He has completed several observerships abroad, including the following:
- The Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore
- St. Louis Eye Institute, Tarpon Springs
- Bascom Palmer, University of Miami
- Washington University, Seattle
- Ocular Surface Research Center, Miami
- Doheny Eye Institute, University of South California, Los Angeles
He is a member of the following scientific societies:
- North American Neurophthalmology Society (NANOS)
- American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS)
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
He has authored more than 100 papers on international peer-reviewed journals and several books.
Catherine Vignal Clermont
MD, Ophthalmology
E-mail: cvignal@for.paris
Affiliations
- Centre Hospitalier National d’Ophtalmologie des Quinze-Vingts, Paris. Unit for Clinical Research and Department of Ophthalmology.
- Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris. Department of Neuro Ophthalmology and Emergencies
Biosketch
Doctor Catherine Vignal Clermont is an ophthalmologist with a particular interest in Neuro Ophthalmology. Through her affiliations she has built a clinical network for investigation and management of patients with neuro ophthalmological illnesses and particularly patients with mitochondrial eye diseases. She is actively collaborating with academic and industrial partners in an effort to fast track the development of effective therapies for this group of patients, including novel gene therapy approaches.
Doctor Catherine Vignal Clermont is past President of the Club Francophone of Neuro Ophthalmology, member of the European Neuro-Ophthalmological Society (EUNOS) and of the North American Neuro Ophthalmological Society (NANOS)
Patrick Yu-Wai-Man
BMedSci, MBBS, PhD, FRCPath, FRCOphth
E-mail: py237@cam.ac.uk
Affiliations
- Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, and MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge
- Cambridge Eye Unit, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals
- Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London
Biosketch
Professor Yu-Wai-Man is an academic neuro-ophthalmologist with a major research interest in mitochondrial genetics and inherited eye diseases. His research programme is currently focused on dissecting the disease mechanisms leading to progressive retinal ganglion cell loss in mitochondrial optic neuropathies by using diseased patient tissues and animal models, in addition to therapeutic drug screening and clinical trials. Through his affiliations in Cambridge, Newcastle and London, Professor Yu-Wai-Man has built a national referral network for the investigation and management of patients with mitochondrial eye diseases.
He is actively collaborating with an international network of academic and industrial partners in an effort to fast track the development of effective therapies for this group patients, including novel gene therapy approaches. Professor Yu-Wai-Man is a Council member of the European Neuro-Ophthalmological Society (EUNOS) and he sits on a number of national and international committees (NANOS, JNO, ARVO, EVER).
Thomas Klopstock
MD, FEAN
E-mail: tklopsto@med.LMU.de
Affiliations
- Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Baur-Institute, University Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster of Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
Biosketch
Professor Klopstock studied medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (Germany) with an elective period at Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA). Following graduation in 1992, he trained as a neurologist at the Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. His main interests have been neurogenetic disorders with a particular focus on mitochondrial diseases. Accordingly, Professor Klopstock founded a Mitochondrial Unit at the Dept. of Neurology as early as 1994. Since then, he has been doing extensive clinical and molecular research in the field, including research terms in 2001 at the Istituto Nazionale Neurologico in Milan and in 2007 at the Columbia University in New York.
Apart from being Professor of Neurology at the Dept. of Neurology (Friedrich-Baur-Institute), Professor Klopstock is Speaker of the German Network for Mitochondrial Disorders (mitoNET), Speaker of the international consortium TIRCON (Treat Iron-Related Childhood-Onset Neurodegeneration), Head of Neurological Phenotyping at the German Mouse Clinic (Helmholtz Center, Munich), and member of the Management Board of the Munich Center for Rare diseases. Professor Klopstock has extensive experience in both investigator- and industry-driven clinical trials in mitochondrial diseases, including Friedreich’s ataxia, Parkinson’s disease, neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation and Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy.
Dr. Valerio Carelli
MD, PhD
Email: valerio.carelli@unibo.it
Affiliations
- Associate Professor of Neurology
Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), University of Bologna School of Medicine - Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics
IRCCS Institute of the Neurological Sciences of Bologna, Bellaria Hospital (Padiglione G), Via Altura 3, 40139 Bologna, Italy
Biosketch
Since the original discovery of the first mutations affecting mitochondrial DNA in 1988, my carrier has developed being dedicated to the study of mitochondrial medicine, with particular reference to mitochondrial optic neuropathies. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) has been the first topic explored over 30 years, unwrapping the different layers of the pathogenic mechanism, first investigating the biochemical dysfunction due to LHON mutations, then studying the cell biology through the model of cybrid cells, further tackling the histopathology of LHON under the guidance of Prof. Alfredo A. Sadun in Los Angeles, and recently phenotyping the first genetic mouse model generated by Prof. Doug Wallace.
In year 2001 I got back to Italy and took over the Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the Department of Neurological Sciences of the University of Bologna, diagnosing mito-patients and building the clinical cohorts of LHON and dominant optic atrophy (DOA) currently followed at the new location of the recent IRCCS Institute of Neurological Sciences of Bologna at the Bellaria Hospital. Currently, molecular and cell biology research is carried out thanks to the renewed Laboratory of Neurogenetics, and clinical translational research thanks to the dedicated clinics of neurophthalmology and mitochondrial medicine. My research group, joining the basic sciences and clinical teams, is composed of 7 PhDs, 2 PhD student, 4 lab technicians, and 4 MDs (3 neurologists and 1 ophthalmologist). This team has extensive collaborations in Italy and abroad, in particular in Europe and the US. Our diagnostic activity is based on next generation sequencing, whereas research is focused on pathogenic mechanisms and therapeutic strategies of mitochondrial and neurodegenerative diseases using induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) and terminally differentiated cell models.