Pre-Conference Workshop Day
Tuesday, 13 September 2022
8.30am - 11:00am | Workshop A: Discussing the Use of Non-Viral Gene Delivery as a Therapeutic Modality to the Eye
- Reviewing the conventional approaches of non-viral delivery (microinjection, electroporation, lipofection) - advantages and limitations
- Laser based approach for non-viral targeted delivery-safety and efficacy
- Clinical translation roadmap of image-guided laser-based gene delivery-safety, regulatory path

Subrata Batabyal
Senior Technical Officer
Nanoscope Technologies

Dr. Sanghoon Kim
Project Engineer
Nanoscope Technologies

Gayathri Ramaswam
VP, Drug Discovery & Disease Biology
Intergalactic Therapeutics
11:30am - 2:00pm| Workshop B: Preclinical Advances, Challenges and Tools For Developing Novel Gene
Therapies For Retinal Ganglion Cell Neuroprotection, Regeneration and Repair in Optic Neuropathies
- State of the art on retinal ganglion cell neuroprotection and regeneration
- Challenges remaining for retinal ganglion cell repair in optic neuropathies
- AAV-CRISPR screening in optic nerve crush model for identification of novel gene therapy candidates

Shane Hegarty
Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder
AXONIS Therapeutics
2.30pm - 5:00pm | Workshop C: Opportunities & Challenges for Ocular, Systemic, Functional and Structural
Biomarkers for Retina Indications
- Aqueous and vitreous biomarkers for retina clinical trials
- Serum / systemic biomarkers for retinal clinical trials
- Functional readouts in AMD and IRD trials
- Structural readouts vs functional readouts

Stephen Poor
Director of External Innovation and Translational Biomarkers
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Maen Obeidat
Executive Director – Therapeutics Area Head, Biomarker Development, Ophthalmology
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Ramkumar Ramamirtham
Associate Director & Optometrist
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research