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CellSight in the News


Mini-Retinas Model Human Disease in a Dish

July 16, 2024 by Rachael Moeller Gorman

A new feature in Drug Discovery News describes the inception and history of the CellSight program and it's goal to transplant retinal organoids into the people experiencing blindness. 


BrightFocus Foundation Recognizes Innovators in Vision Research

May 9, 2024 by BrightFocus Foundation

BrightFocus Foundation recognized five vision scientists for their innovative research focused on preventing, treating, and curing macular degeneration and glaucoma, diseases with no cure that affect 280 million people worldwide. Miguel Flores Bellver, PhD, was awarded the Dr. Joe G. Hollyfield New Investigator Award for Macular Degeneration Research.



Fulfilling a Dream: Ophthalmology Researcher Works to Restore People’s Vision

May 6, 2024 by Chris Casey

In a new episode of the CU Anschutz Health Science Radio podcast by Valeria Canto-Soler, PhD, Doni Solich Family Chair in Ocular Stem Cell Research and director of CellSight, shares her dream of restoring sight and how her team is targeting AMD by transplanting lab-grown retinal cells.



2023 CellSight Impact Report

Learn more about our work and see some department highlights!


CellSight Contributes Light-Sensitive Retinal Organoids and RPE Cells to New AMD Study

December 6, 2023 by Kara Mason

A partnership between researchers in the University of Colorado Department of Ophthalmology and Johns Hopkins University expands the understanding of how oxidative stress contributes to the development of choroidal neovascularization in patients with age-related macular degeneration.



CellSight Surpasses Benchmarks Toward Making Retinal Transplants a Reality

September 1, 2022 by Rachel Wittel

Battling blinding eye diseases such as macular degeneration, the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center’s ocular stem cell and regeneration research program is growing human retinas from stem cells to one day be transplanted into humans.


CellSight Teams Clinch Top Two of Three Awards in National Eye Institute Competition

September 1, 2022 by Toni Lapp

The University of Colorado Department of Ophthalmology’s ocular stem cell and regeneration research program, CellSight, was awarded the top two prizes in the National Eye Institute’s 3D Retinal Organoid Challenge (NEI 3D ROC). The NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health, launched the three-phase challenge in 2017 to stimulate research using retina organoids. These organoids are similar to human retinas but are grown in a lab from stem cells, enabling researchers to study eye diseases and treatments noninvasively.


2021 CellSight Impact Report 

Learn more about our work and see some department highlights!

CU Researchers Provide First Evidence Linking Extracellular Vesicles with Drusen Formation and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

November 12, 2021 by Rachel Wittel

CellSight researchers at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center were published for a discovery that could lead to early diagnosis and intervention of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD).


CellSight team awarded 3D Retinal Organoid Challenge prize by the National Eye Institute

February 3, 2021 by the University of Colorado School of Medicine

A team led by Maria Natalia Vergara, Ph.D., Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, University of Colorado was awarded $60,000 for developing an organoid derived from stem cells engineered to fluoresce which allows the organoid to demonstrate the cellular composition more clearly and efficiently. This advancement allows for improved organoid differentiation that can be used to screen and validate drugs more readily.


Dr. Natalia Vergara Participates on Third Annual Emerging Vision Scientists Day Events on Capitol Hill

September 13, 2017 by Eye Research

AEVR’s Decade of Vision 2010-2020 Initiative hosted its Third Annual Emerging Vision Scientists Day on Capitol Hill, which was supported by a grant from Research to Prevent Blindness.


Enabling Quantitative Screening in Retinal Organoids 3D Automated Reporter Quantification Technology

September 4, 2017 by The Company of Biologists

The advent of stem cell-derived retinal organoids has brought forth unprecedented opportunities for developmental and physiological studies, while presenting new therapeutic promise for retinal degenerative diseases.


A Vision for Helping those with Sight Problems

August 30, 2017 by Kathleen Bohland

Canto-Soler joins Ophthalmology and Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine team to develop cell-based treatments.

For all media requests, please contact Communications Manager Rachel Wittel at Rachel.Wittel@CUAnschutz.edu

Ophthalmology (SOM)

CU Anschutz

Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Institute

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Aurora, CO 80045


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