Michelle Antonucci Rose Hills
Astigmatism-related Amblyopia Treatment
Vision is a vital sense that many people reply on to navigate through their daily lives, and yet people with amblyopia (commonly referred to as lazy eye) can have their vision and depth perception severely impacted by this condition. With my mentor in the Levi Lab, I sought to develop an effective treatment for astigmatism-related amblyopia and test it in a clinic trial. The treatment is a perceptual learning task where the patient looks at a computer that presents different orientations of a black and white pattern. The task of looking at the pattern repeatedly is done to hopefully train the eye to focus using the astigmatic part of the eye, to ultimately improve the visual input from that eye, and improve their binocular vision.
Message To Sponsor
To have been granted this fellowship allows me to engage in my intellectual curiosity and potentially help the larger community in understanding and treating people with a unique visual experience. Through the process of working with the SURF community and my mentor, I have learned the process of scientific investigation in more in-depth ways than I ever imagined. As I continue to pursue a scientific career, the processes of learning to think critically, question and formulate consequential hypotheses, and articulate those thoughts are all valuable learning processes that I am gaining from my time pursuing this research plan. The SURF Program and Rose Hills Foundation have contributed to my scientific understanding and maturity, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and support.
Major: Integrative Biology, Ethnic Studies Minor
Mentor: Dennis Levi, Vision Science and Optometry
Sponsor: Rose Hills