Faculty > Culican

Susan M. Culican, M.D., Ph.D.

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Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Residency Program Director
(314)-454-6026

B.A. Biology, Washington University (1990); M.D./Ph.D., Biology and Biomedical Sciences/Neuroscience, Washington University (1998); Resident, Ophthalmology, Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (1999-2002); Chief Resident Ophthalmology, Washington University (2002-2003); Fellow, Pediatric Ophthalmology, St. Louis Children's Hospital (2003-2004).

Research Area: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Amblyopia

Research Interests: Cellular mechanisms of inter-ocular competition in visual development

Dr. Culican's laboratory work relates to the cellular refinement of neural circuits during critical periods of visual development. Amblyopia, or "lazy eye", is the most common cause of vision loss in childhood, affecting approximately 5% of school-aged children. Patching the stronger eye to strengthen the lazy eye can result in spectacular improvement if performed when the brain's visual circuits are still remodeling. However, if treatment is not initiated during this critical period of development, the vision loss becomes permanent. While many studies have been aimed at localizing the site of amblyopia in the brain, there is very little known about the mechanisms that define the process at the cellular or synaptic level. The research goals are:

1. (broadly) to identify the cellular developmental processes that underlie inter-ocular competition, such as occurs pathologically in amblyopia
2. To better understand the changes in synaptic connectivity that occur during inter-ocular competition to identify the cellular mechanisms that define the critical period.
3. To begin to define the molecular and activity mediated signals that regulate topographic localization of retinal projections during visual development.